Methods and kits for identifying scavengers of reactive oxygen species (ros)

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to methods and kits for determining the level of H 2 O 2  inside a cell, and for determining whether a test compound has ability to scavenge a reactive oxygen species (ROS). The methods and diagnostic kits of this invention employ a cell containing a promoter which is inducible by an ROS, such as the H 2 O 2 -inducible KatA promoter of  Agrobacterium tumefacines;  the promoter is used to drive expression of a reporter gene. The expression level of the reporter gene correlates with the level of ROS, specifically H 2 O 2 , inside the cell. When the cell is exposed to a test compound, either intra-cellularly or extra-cellularly, if the level of ROS-inducible expression of the reporter is reduced, then this indicates that the test compound is a scavenger of the ROS. The methods of this invention may also be used to select for new or improved ROS scavengers by expressing a library of test scavengers in cells which express a reporter from a ROS-inducible promoter and selecting for those cells whose level of ROS-inducible expression of the reporter is reduced. The cells which express a reporter from a ROS-inducible promoter may have a modified genetic background to reduce their naturally occurring ROS-scavenging ability.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/266,657, filed Feb. 5, 2001, the content of which is herein incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

[0002] This invention relates to methods of identifying, and/or determining the ROS-scavenging ability of, a compound with ROS-scavenging function.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Aerobic metabolism in living organisms can lead to generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which include hydroxyl radicals, superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide. Production of ROS can be due to various enzymatic and non-enzymatic processes. In aerobic organisms, ROS are formed from the partial reduction of molecular oxygen to water during oxidative metabolism. Bacterial cells produce endogenous hydrogen peroxide from the dismutation of superoxide or hydroxyl radical as a product of the respiratory chain when oxygen is used as the terminal electron acceptor. Enteric bacteria (e.g. Salmonella typhimurium and E. coli) encounter toxic levels of hydrogen peroxide produced by macrophages during engulfment.

[0004] Under normal conditions, ROS may play an important role in different biological processes. However, when ROS are excessively produced under certain unusual conditions, they can cause oxidative damage to DNA, proteins and lipids.

[0005] ROS have been implicated in the pathogenesis of many different disease situations as well as harmful conditions. These include aging, AIDS, atherosclerosis, cancer, cataracts, congestive heart failure, diabetes, inflammatory disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, and neuro-degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, and Down's syndrome, in addition to exposure to pollutants and ionizing irradiation.

[0006] Living organisms have developed different ways of coping with the ROS. The capacity of enzymatic or non-enzymatic antioxidants to quench the ROS can help cells to defend against the oxidative stress. Therefore, antioxidants have been linked to and used for disease prevention.

[0007] Antioxidants may be proteins, such as ferritin, lactoferritin and transferritin, or enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase. Nonenzymatic antioxidants may be macromolecules, such as albumin, copper-binding ceruloplasmin and hemoglobin, or small molecules which may be water-soluble antioxidants, such as vitamin C, uric acid and bilirubin or lipid-soluble antioxidants, such as vitamin E, carotenoids, retinoids and ubiquinol-10.

[0008] However, these natural defenses can be overwhelmed in many pathological states. More potent antioxidants should be supplemented to deal with the oxidative stresses. Screening and assay methods are needed to identify potent antioxidants; but the current methods are both time-consuming and expensive. In addition, they cannot measure the intracellular antioxidant activities, which are more relevant to biological applications. Therefore, a simple method that can measure the intracellular antioxidant activities and hence can be used to search for better oxidant scavenging molecules is of great importance in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical fields.

[0009] The public has shown an increasing interest in the natural antioxidants contained in dietary supplements, as antioxidants can give health benefits by preventing oxidative damage caused by ROS. Standardized assays to assess antioxidant activities and distinguish different antioxidants are useful. Such assay methods are useful to properly assess and label antioxidant products. Such assays are also useful for measuring activities of antioxidants for use as food supplements, natural products and drugs.

[0010] Farr (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,585,252, 5,811,231 and 5,589,337) have described use of stress promoters fused to reporter genes to determine toxicity.

[0011] Catalase is a protein antioxidant. Catalases catalyze the dismutation of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen. The primary role for catalases is to protect the cells against the damage caused by reactive oxygen species to cellular components, including nucleic acids, proteins and cell membranes. Catalases have been implicated to be important for the survival of some pathogenic bacteria during infection and even for the life span of a multi-cellular organism.

[0012]Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a soil-borne plant pathogen that causes crown gall tumors on many plant species. A chromosomal gene katA encoding a catalase has been identified that is involved in detoxification of H₂O₂ released during Agrobacterium-plant interaction (Xu and Pan, 2000).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] The present invention relates to a method for determining the ability of a compound to remove an ROS. The method generally comprises: a) providing a cell containing an ROS-inducible promoter (RIP) which drives expression of a reporter gene. The reporter gene is heterologous to the promoter to which it is operably linked. b) exposing the cell to a compound potentially able to remove the ROS. c) measuring a change in the ROS-inducible expression level of the reporter gene in the cell when the cell is exposed to the compound. A reduction in the reporter protein level would indicate that the compound is able to remove the ROS.

[0014] The invention further relates to a method for selecting a nucleic acid which encodes a protein-potentially able to remove an ROS. The method generally comprises: a) Providing cells containing an ROS-induced promoter which drives expression of a reporter gene. The reporter gene is heterologous to the promoter to which it is operably linked. b) Introducing into the cells expression vectors containing different nucleic acids, such as those found in a cDNA library, or in a library where the nucleic acids have been mutagenized. These nucleic acids encode proteins which are potentially able to remove the ROS. c) Measuring a change in the ROS-inducible expression of the reporter gene in the cells when the nucleic acids are expressed. d) Selecting for cells with reduced ROS-inducible expression of the reporter gene. e) Isolating the nucleic acid from the cells with reduced ROS-inducible expression of the reporter gene. The nucleic acid isolated by such a procedure likely encodes a protein able to remove the ROS.

[0015] In one embodiment, the different nucleic acids all encode proteins able to remove ROS. By selecting for cells with the greatest degree of reduction in the level of reporter protein, the most efficient ROS remover may be identified.

[0016] The method of the invention does not require that the cell be exposed to an external source of ROS. Rather, the ROS which induces the ROS-inducible promoter may be intracellular. In one embodiment, the intracellular level of the ROS may be elevated by methods known in the art. The intracellular level of ROS such as H₂O₂ may also be induced by acid pH, especially in bacteria such as A. tumefaciens. In another embodiment, the intracellular level of the ROS may be made constitutively elevated by using a cell which has been genetically modified.

[0017] Cells containing such genetic modifications are known in the art and may have, for example, modified genes of the respiratory chain so that the redox balance of the cell is disturbed. Other genetic modifications may involve knocking out functional enzymes which break down or remove ROS intracellularly, such as catalase, superoxide dismutase, alkyl hydroperoxidase, and glutathione reductase.

[0018] As is clear from above, the method of the invention also does not require that the potential ROS-removing compound be exposed to the cell extracellularly. Rather, the compound, in this case a gene product, may be expressed from a nucleic acid inside the cell.

[0019] In a preferred embodiment, the cell expressing the RIP-reporter does not express the functional native gene product, i.e. that which is naturally expressed from the promoter to which the reporter gene is operably linked. Absence of the native gene function ensures that no complicating mechanism such as a feedback loop interferes with the correlation between the ability of a compound to remove an ROS and the RIP-reporter expression level.

[0020] In one embodiment, the ROS-inducible promoter is from a gene selected from the group consisting of: AhpCF, Bcp, Dps, gor, KatA, KatB/AnkB, KatG, TrxB, human MAP kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP-1) genes; mammalian hic-5 genes, the isc operon; Escherichia coli zwf, fpr, fumC, micF, nfo, and sodA genes; Azotobacter vinelandii spr gene; Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae katX gene; rat and human haem oxygenase-1 (HO-1); yeast 2-deoxyglucose-6-phophate phosphatase (DOG2); catalase; human manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD); rat glutathione S-transferase (GST); human interstitial collagenase (MMP-1); human glutathione peroxidase (GPX2); fish metallothionein (MT); and rat multidrug resistance type 1 (mdr1).

[0021] In another embodiment, the ROS is H₂O₂. Where it is desirable to identify or select for H₂O₂-removing compounds, an H₂O₂-inducible promoter is used. Such a promoter may be from the following genes: AhpCF, Bcp, Dps, gor, KatA, KatB/AnkB, KatG, TrxB, human MAP kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP-1) genes; mammalian hic-5 genes, and the isc operon.

[0022] In another embodiment, the cell used in the methods described above is a bacterial cell. It is understood that if a bacterial cell is used, the ROS-responsive promoter must function as such in bacteria and the reporter gene must encode a protein functional in bacteria. Likewise, if a plant cell, a yeast cell, or a mammalian cell is used, the ROS-responsive promoter and the reporter protein must be functional in the particular chosen cell type.

[0023] The present invention also relates to diagnostic kits for determining the ability of a gene product to remove an ROS. Such a kit generally comprises: a) a cell which contains an ROS-inducible promoter driving expressing of a reporter gene. The reporter gene is understood to be heterologous to the promoter to which it is operably linked. b) means for introducing in the cell a nucleic acid encoding a gene product; and (c) instructions for determining a reduction in ROS-inducible expression of the reporter gene in the cell once the nucleic acid is expressed. This would indicate whether the gene product is able to remove the ROS.

[0024] The kit of the invention provides components for carrying out the methods of the invention. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the kit further contains means for measuring the level of the product of the reporter gene. The kit may further comprise means for elevating the intracellular level of the ROS in the cell. The cell provided in the kit may be genetically modified to contain an elevated intracellular level of an ROS, or may lack at least one naturally occurring ROS-removing activity. The cell of the kit may also lack a gene encoding an active enzyme such as catalase, superoxide dismutase, alkyl hydroperoxidase, and glutathione reductase.

[0025] The ROS-inducible promoter contained in the kit may be from a gene such as AhpCF, Bcp, Dps, gor, KatA, KatB/AnkB, KatG, TrxB, human MAP kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP-1) genes; mammalian hic-5 genes, the bacterial isc operon; Escherichia coli zwf, fpr, fumC, micF, nfo, soi28, and sodA genes; Azotobacter vinelandii spr gene; Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae katX gene; rat and human haem oxygenase-1 (HO-1); yeast 2-deoxyglucose-6-phophate phosphatase (DOG2); catalase; human manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD); rat glutathione S-transferase (GST); human interstitial collagenase (MMP-1); human glutathione peroxidase (GPX2); fish metallothionein (MT); and rat multidrug resistance type 1 (mdr1).

[0026] In one embodiment, the kit is used to determine the ability of a certain compound to remove H₂O₂. Preferably, the kit provides an H₂O₂-inducible promoter from a gene such as AhpCF, Bcp, Dps, gor, KatA, KatB/AnkB, KatG, TrxB, human MAP kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP-1) genes; mammalian hic-5 genes, and the isc operon.

[0027] In another embodiment the cell provided by the kit is a bacterial cell and the reporter gene encodes a protein functional in bacteria. In a preferred embodiment, the bacterial cell is Agrobacterium tumefaciens.

[0028] In preferred embodiments of the method or kit of the invention, the ROS-inducible promoter is from the KatA gene of Agrobacterium tumefaciens.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029]FIG. 1. Alignment of the amino acid sequence of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens katA gene product with the homologous catalase sequences. Alignment was completed by using the DNAsis program. Atu KatA represents the A. tumefaciens katA gene product; Lpn KatB represents the Legionella pneumophila katB gene product; Bst Cat represents the Bacillus stearothermophilus catalase.

[0030]FIG. 2. Catalase isozyme assays. A. Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains A348 (lane 1), AG6 (pXQ9) (lane 2) and AG6 (lane 3) were grown overnight at 28° C. in MG/L liquid medium. Crude cell extracts were prepared as described in the Materials and Methods. For each strain, 20 μl of crude cell extract was loaded and electrophoresed on 7.5% nondenaturing gel. B. 40 μl (lane 1) and 20 μl (lane 2) of A348 cell crude extract (that had been diluted 2× further after the dilution described in the Materials and Methods) was loaded and electrophoresed. Catalase isozymes were visualised by activity staining according to Clare et al. (1984).

[0031]FIG. 3. The katA-gfp expression in different growth media. Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains A348 and AG6 were grown at 28° C. for 24 hr on agar plates of MG/L, AB, IB (pH 5.5), and IB (pH 7.0) and fresh Kalanchoe leaf tissue and stem tissue sections. The cells were harvested and then resuspended in dH₂O. The fluorescence of each cell suspension was measured by Luminescence Spectrometer LS50B (Perkin Elmer) as described in the Materials and Methods using A348 as the blank.

[0032]FIG. 4. Comparison of katA-gfp expression in different genetic backgrounds. Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains A348, AG6, AG6 (pSW172), AG6 (pXQ9), AG613, CGI1 and CGI1 (pXQ9) were grown at 28° C. for 24 hr on agar plates of IB (pH 5.5). The cells were harvested and then resuspended in dH₂O. The fluorescence of each cell suspension was measured by Luminescence Spectrometer LS50B (Perkin Elmer) as described in the Materials and Methods using A348 as the blank.

[0033]FIG. 5. Schematic presentation of the wild-type and mutated katA genes. The lines represent the DNA sequences; the boxes represent the KatA open reading frames (ORFs). The vertical lines indicate the restriction sites or amino acid positions. The diamond indicates the mini-Tn5 transposon insertion position. The key restriction endonuclease sites and primers used are indicated. The DNA sequences under the triangles are the ORF sequences concerned for the site-directed mutagenesis. ˜ represents a deletion of the G of the second codon; * represents the stop codon introduced at the fifth codon. The wild type katA in pXQ9 and the mutant katA genes encoding KatAΔ50 and KatAΔ86 were driven by the katA promoter. The wild type katA in pXQ23 and the mutant genes encoding KatA (98H/D), KatA (94R/Q) (98H/D), ΔkatA (˜2) and ΔkatA (*5) were driven by both the katA and lac promoter.

[0034]FIG. 6. The effects of katA mutations on the KatA protein stability. Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains A348 (panel A, lane 2; panel B, lane 1), AG6 (panel A, lane 3), AG6 (pXQ23) (panel A, lane 4), AG6 (pXQ26) (panel A, lane 5), AG6 (pXQ27) (panel A, lane 6), AG6 (pXQ30) (panel A, lane 7), AG6 (pXQ31) (panel A, lane 8), AG6 (pXQ9) (panel B, lane 2), AG6 (pXQ11) (panel B, lane 3), and AG6 (pXQ22) (panel B, lane 4) were grown overnight at 28° C. on IB plates. The cells were harvested, washed and diluted to a concentration of OD₆₀₀=0.3. The cells from 500 μl of cell suspensions were harvested by centrifugation and resuspended in the Laemmli (1970) sample buffer. An aliquot of 2 μl of each sample was electrophoresed on SDS/10% PAGE gels. The proteins were transferred onto Immobilon-P membrane and visualized by (His)₆-KatA antibody. The purified (His)₆-KatA was used as the control.

[0035]FIG. 7. Detection of the GFP protein expression of the katA-gfp fusion. Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains A348 (lane 1), AG6 (lane 2), AG6 (pSW172) (lane 3), AG6 (pXQ23) (lane 4), AG6 (pXQ26) (lane 5), AG6 (pXQ27) (lane 6), AG6 (pXQ30) (lane 7), AG6 (pXQ31) (lane 8), AG6 (pXQ11) (lane 9), and AG6 (pXQ22) (lane 10) were grown overnight at 28° C. on IB plates. The cells were harvested and then resuspended in dH₂O. One portion of each cell suspension was used to measure the fluorescence by Luminescence Spectrometer LS50B (Perkin Elmer) as described in the Materials and Methods using A348 as the blank (upper panel). Another portion of each cell suspension was diluted to a concentration of OD₆₀₀=0.3. The cells from 500 μl of cell suspensions were harvested by centrifugation and resuspended in the Laemmli (1970) sample buffer. An aliquot of 2 μl of each sample was electrophoresed on SDS/15% PAGE gels. The proteins were transferred onto Immobilon-P membrane; the GFP was visualized by the GFP antibody (lower panel).

[0036]FIG. 8. Assays for catalase activity bands. Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains A348 (lane 1), AG6 (lane 2), AG6 (pXQ23) (lane 3), AG6 (pXQ26) (lane 4), AG6 (pXQ27) (lane 5), AG6 (pXQ11) (lane 6), and AG6 (pXQ22) (lane 7) were grown overnight at 28° C. in MG/L liquid medium. Samples of crude cell extracts were prepared and electrophoresed on 7.5% nondenaturing gel as described previously (Xu and Pan, 2000). Catalase isozymes were visualized by activity staining according to Clare et al (1984). Since AG6 (pXQ23) was over-expressing KatA, this sample was diluted 8 fold before loading.

[0037]FIG. 9. Induction of the katA-gfp fusion by H₂O₂. The cells of Agrobacterium tumefaciens AG6 grown in MG/L (OD₆₀₀=0.5) were exposed to 0, 30 μM, 60 μM, and 120 μM H₂O₂. The cell suspensions were incubated at 28° C. for 2 hours. Aliquots of 1 ml cell cultures were harvested by centrifugation and resuspended in the Laemmli (1970) sample buffer. An aliquot of 10 μl of each sample was electrophoresed on SDS/15% PAGE gels. The proteins were transferred onto Immobilon-P membrane; the GFP was visualized by the GFP antibody.

[0038]FIG. 10. Repression of katA-gfp expression by surrounding bacterial cells. The AG6 cells were mixed with at 1:1 ratio with the cells from the bacterial strains A348, Rhizobium meliloti RCR2011, or E. coli DH5α; the mixtures were spotted on IB plates. The same amount of bacterial cells from a single strain A348, AG6 (pXQ9), Rhizobium meliloti RCR2011, or E. coli DH5α was also spotted on IB plates. The plates were incubated overnight at 28° C. The bacterial fluorescence under UV light was photographed (upper panel). The fluorescence intensity was measured (lower panel) as described in the Materials and Methods.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0039] To determine whether a compound is able to remove an ROS, an ROS-inducible promoter (RIP) is fused to a reporter gene to drive its expression. The reporter gene is heterologous to the promoter to which it is operably linked. The RIP-reporter construct is then stably transformed into the cell. To test whether a certain compound is an ROS-remover, the cell is exposed to the test compound. Preferably, the cell is exposed to the test compound intracellularly. If necessary, the intracellular level of the ROS is induced, and the ROS-inducible expression level of the reporter gene in the cell is measured. A reduction in the reporter protein level when the cell is exposed to the compound would indicate that the compound is able to remove the ROS.

[0040] The test compound may also be provided by being expressed in a neighbouring cell, rather than being expressed from the cell containing the RIP.

[0041] As used herein, the terms “reactive oxygen species” (ROS) and “oxidants” are used interchangeably, and include hydroxyl radicals, superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide.

[0042] ROS-removing compounds are anti-oxidants or oxidant scavengers. Namely, these compounds have the ability remove ROS by breaking them down chemically, or by sequestering them away from solution. Known ROS-removing compounds include proteins, such as ferritin, lactoferritin and transferritin, or enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase. Nonenzymatic antioxidants may be macromolecules, such as albumin, copper-binding ceruloplasmin and hemoglobin, or small molecules such as water-soluble antioxidants (e.g. vitamin C, uric acid and bilirubin) or lipid-soluble antioxidants (e.g. vitamin E, carotenoids, retinoids and ubiquinol-10).

[0043] In a preferred embodiment, the test compounds with potential ROS-removing capability are proteins expressed intracellularly. They are often proteins heterologous to the cells containing the RIP-reporter construct. However, a polypeptide naturally present in such cells may also be tested as a ROS-removing compound provided that the gene encoding the functional polypeptide has been knocked out from the cell.

[0044] The term “heterologous” means, in the context of the present invention, that the components are not found naturally together. For example, a reporter gene which is heterologous to the promoter to which it is linked is not the natural coding sequence of the gene from which the promoter is derived.

[0045] The term “vector” refers to a nucleic acid sequence that is capable of propagating in particular host cells and can accommodate inserts of foreign nucleic acid. Typically, vectors can be manipulated in vitro to insert foreign nucleic acids and the vectors can be introduced into host cells such that the inserted nucleic acid is transiently or stably present in the host cells.

[0046] The term “expression vector” refers to a vector designed to express inserted nucleic acid sequences. Such vectors may contain a powerful promoter located upstream of the insertion site.

[0047] The term “expression” in the context of nucleic acids refers to transcription and/or translation of nucleic acids into mRNA and/or protein products.

[0048] The term “expression library” refers to a library of nucleic acid fragments contained as inserts in an expression vector.

[0049] The term “stable transformation” refers to the continued presence of a nucleic acid sequence in a host cell for a period of time that is at least as long as that required to carry out the methods of the present invention. Stable transformation can be achieved through integration of the construct into a host cell chromosome, or engineering the construct so that it possesses elements that ensure its continued replication and segregation within the host (i.e., an artificial chromosome), or alternatively, the construct may contain a selectable marker (e.g., a drug resistance gene) so that persistence of the construct in the cell is ensured by growing the host cells under selective conditions (e.g., in drug-containing media).

[0050] The term “cell” or “host cell” in the present invention refers to a cell of prokaryotic or eukaryotic origin that can serve as a recipient of an introduced vector. The host cell often allows replication and segregation of the vector that resides within. In certain cases, however, replication and/or segregation are irrelevant; expression of vector or insert DNA is the objective. Typical bacterial host cells include E. coli, B. subtilis and A. tumefaciens; fungal host cells include S. cerevisiae and S. pombe; plant cells include those isolated from A. thaliana, and Z. maize; insect host cells include those isolated from D. melanogaster, A. aegypti, and S. frugiperda; and mammalian cells include those isolated from human tissues and cancers including melanocyte (melanoma), colon (carcinoma), prostate (carcinoma), brain (glioma, neuroblastoma, astrocytoma) and liver (hepatoma).

[0051] An ROS-inducible promoter is one which, in response to the presence of the ROS inside the cell, expression from the promoter is increased. Numerous ROS-inducible promoters are known in the art. They include: AhpCF, Bcp, Dps, gor, KatA, KatB/AnkB, KatG, TrxB, human MAP kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP-1) genes; mammalian hic-5 genes, the isc operon; Escherichia coli zwf, fpr, fumC, micF, nfo, and sodA genes; Azotobacter vinelandii spr gene; Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae katX gene; rat and human haem oxygenase-1 (HO-1); yeast 2-deoxyglucose-6-phophate phosphatase (DOG2); catalase; human manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD); rat glutathione S-transferase (GST); human interstitial collagenase (MMP-1); human glutathione peroxidase (GPX2); fish metallothionein (MT); and rat multidrug resistance type 1 (mdr1).

[0052] It is expected that most of the promoters above would be functional to some degree in a heterologous cell type. However, it is preferred that promoters naturally found in bacteria would be used in bacteria, and yeast promoter in yeast cells, and mammalian promoters in mammalian cells, according to the methods of the invention.

[0053] In a preferred embodiment, the ROS is H₂O₂, and the H₂O₂-inducible promoter is from a gene such as AhpCF, Bcp, Dps, gor, KatA, KatB/AnkB, KatG, TrxB, human MAP kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP-1) genes; mammalian hic-5 genes, and the isc operon.

[0054] The RIP-reporter vector is customized so that reporter expression reflects as closely as possible the ROS level of the host cell. Thus, the expression vector is designed so that the reporter gene is placed under control of ROS-response cis regulatory elements functional in the host cell. Preferably, the reporter is expressed at a low level in the absence of the ROS; i.e. the basal activity of the promoter should be low so that induction by ROS is readily detectable.

[0055] A partial listing of the genes, their organism of origin, and Genbank accession numbers are provided below. A brief description of some of these genes and reference publications are also provided:

[0056]Streptococcus mutans ahpC and nox1 genes for alkyl hydroperoxidase and NADH oxidase/alkyl hydroperoxidase reductase, ACCESSION AB010712.

[0057]Mycobacterium marinum alkylhydroperoxide reductase (ahpC) gene, ACCESSION AF034861.

[0058]Bacteroides fragilis alkyl hydroperoxide reductase subunit C (ahpC) and alkyl hydroperoxide reductase subunit F (ahpF) genes, ACCESSION AF129406.

[0059]Salmonella typhimurium alkyl hydroperoxide reductase (ahpC) and (ahpF) genes, ACCESSION J05478.

[0060]Mycobacterium avium alkyl hydroperoxidase C (ahpC) gene, ACCESSION U18263.

[0061]Mycobacterium tuberculosis alkyl hydroperoxidase C (ahpC) gene, ACCESSION U18264.

[0062]Mycobacterium smegmatis alkyl hydroperoxide reductase C (ahpC) gene, ACCESSION U43719.

[0063]Mycobacterium intracellulare alkyl hydroperoxidase C (ahpC), ACCESSION U71061.

[0064]Staphylococcus aureus alkyl hydroperoxide reductase subunit C (aphC) and subunit F (aphF) genes, ACCESSION U92441 X85029.

[0065]Escherichia coli bacterioferritin comigratory protein (bcp), ACCESSION M63654 M37689.

[0066]Escherichia coli DNA binding protein Dps (dps) gene, ACCESSION AF140030.

[0067]Bacteroides fragilis non-specific DNA-binding protein Dps (dps), ACCESSION AF206033.

[0068] Synechococcus sp. nutrient-stress induced DNA binding protein (dpsA) gene, ACCESSION U19762.

[0069]Streptococcus thermophilus glutathione reductase (gor) gene, ACCESSION L27672.

[0070]E.coli gor gene encoding glutathione reductase, ACCESSION M13141.

[0071]P. aeruginosa gor gene for glutathione reductase (EC 1.6.4.2), ACCESSION X54201.

[0072]Agrobacterium tumefaciens catalase (KatA), SEQ ID NO:1.

[0073]Vibrio fischeri catalase (katA) gene, ACCESSION AF011784.

[0074]Pseudomonas aeruginosa catalase isozyme A (katA) gene, ACCESSION AF047025.

[0075]Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans catalase (katA) gene, ACCESSION AF162654.

[0076]Legionella pneumophila catalase-peroxidase (katA) gene, ACCESSION AF276752.

[0077]Staphylococcus aureus catalase gene, strain ATCC12600. ACCESSION AJ000472.

[0078]Lactobacillus sake catalase (katA) gene, ACCESSION M84015.

[0079]Rhizobium meliloti catalase (katA) gene, ACCESSION U59271.

[0080]Pseudomonas fluorescens plasmid pAM10.6 catalase isozyme (katA) ACCESSION U72068.

[0081]H.pylori katA gene, ACCESSION Z70679.

[0082]B.subtilis 25 kb genomic DNA segment (from sspE to katA), ACCESSION Z82044.

[0083]Pseudomonas aeruginosa paraquat inducible catalase isozyme B (katB), ankyrin (ankB), ACCESSION U89384.

[0084]Caulobacter crescentus catalase-peroxidase (katG) gene, ACCESSION AF027168.

[0085]Mycobacterium smegmatis catalase-peroxidase (katG) gene, ACCESSION AF196484.

[0086] Synechococcus PCC6301 catalase-peroxidase gene, ACCESSION AF197161.

[0087]Mycobacterium leprae DNA for catalase-peroxidase, ACCESSION D89336.

[0088]E.coli katG gene encoding catalase HP1, ACCESSION M21516.

[0089]Salmonella typhimurium Kat G gene for hydroperoxidase I. ACCESSION X53001.

[0090]M.tuberculosis katG gene for catalase-peroxidase. ACCESSION X68081 S42739.

[0091]M.bovis katG gene. ACCESSION X83277.

[0092]M.smegmatis katG gene. ACCESSION X98718.

[0093]M.fortuitum katGI gene. ACCESSION Y07865.

[0094]M.fortuitum katGII gene. ACCESSION Y07866.

[0095]Mycobacterium smegmatis thioredoxin reductase (trxB) and thioredoxin (trxA) genes, ACCESSION AF023161.

[0096]Streptomyces coelicolor sigT, trxB and trxA genes, ACCESSION AJ007313.

[0097]Clostridium litorale thioredoxin reductase (trxB), and thioredoxin (trxA) genes, ACCESSION U24268.

[0098]Mycoplasma pneumoniae thioredoxin reductase K04_orf315 (trxB) gene, ACCESSION U51988.

[0099] The sodA gene encodes superoxide dismutase and is strongly induced when cells are exposed to chemicals that produce superoxide radicals in the cell, such as paraquat, plumbagin, menadione, streptonigrin, methylene blue and phenazine methyl sulfate. SodA gene induction depends upon an increase in steady state superoxide concentration, not necessarily upon cellular damage caused by superoxides.

[0100] The soi28 gene encodes a pyruvate:flavodoxin oxidoreductase. This gene is induced by superoxide-producing reagents only. Specifically, the soi28 gene is induced when two small, thiol-containing proteins, flavodoxin and ferredoxin, become oxidized.

[0101] The ahp gene is induced by hydrogen peroxide and organic hydroperoxides, both exogenous and those formed upon peroxidation of proteins and fatty acids.

[0102] soi17 and soi19 respond to superoxides [T. Kogoma et al., (1988)].

[0103] zwf encodes glucose-6-hydrogenase and is induced by superoxide-producing compounds and nitric oxide [Greenberg et al.(1990)].

[0104] micF encodes antisense RNA that shuts off translation of the porin gene, ompF and is induced by superoxides [Greenberg et al.(1990)].

[0105] The nfo gene encodes a DNA repair enzyme and is specifically induced by redox active agents, such as paraquat and menadione [Farr et al.(1991)].

[0106] If the nucleotide sequence of the ROS-inducible gene is known, polymerase chain reaction may be used to produce fusions with the promoter. Specifically, primers are synthesized which are complementary to the 5′ and 3′ ends of the ROS- inducible promoter portion of the gene, hybridizes those primers to denatured, total DNA under appropriate conditions and performs PCR. In this manner, clonable quantities of any sequenced promoter may be obtained. Once the promoter DNA has been obtained, it is ligated to a DNA encoding the reporter gene in an appropriate vector, such as pRS415 for E. coli, which contains a multiple cloning site just upstream from the lacZ gene. Numerous vectors for expressing reporter genes are known in the art or are commercially available. The methods are well-known in the art.

[0107] A reporter gene as used in the present invention essentially encodes any gene product that can be expressed in the cell of interest and is assayable and detectable. The reporter gene must be sufficiently characterized such that it can be operably linked to the promoter. Reporter genes used in the art include the LacZ gene from E. coli (Shapiro S. K., Chou J., et al., Gene November; 25: 71-82 (1983)), the CAT gene from bacteria (Thiel G., Petersohn D., and Schoch S., Gene February 12; 168: 173-176 (1996)), the luciferase gene from firefly (Gould S. J., and Subramani S., 1988), the GFP gene from jellyfish (Chalfie M. and Prashner D. C., U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,084), galactose kinase (encoded by the galK gene), and beta-glucosidase (encoded by the gus gene). These have been primarily used to monitor expression of genes in the cytoplasm. To monitor expression at the cell surface, a labeled antibody that binds to the cell surface marker (e.g., CD20) may be used to quantify the level of reporter (Koh J., Enders G. H., et al, 1995).

[0108] Of these reporters, autofluorescent proteins (e.g., GFP) and the cell surface reporters are preferred for use in monitoring living cells, because they act as “vital dyes”. Their expression can be evaluated in living cells, and the cells can be recovered intact for subsequent analysis. Vital dyes, however, are not specifically required by the methods of the present invention. It is also very useful to employ reporters whose expression can be quantified rapidly and with high sensitivity. Thus, fluorescent reporters (or reporters that can be labeled directly or indirectly with a fluorophore) are especially preferred. This trait permits high throughput screening on a flow sorter machine such as a fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS).

[0109] GFP is a member of a family of naturally occurring fluorescent proteins, whose fluorescence is primarily in the green region of the spectrum. GFP has been developed extensively for use as a reporter and several mutant forms of the protein have been characterized that have altered spectral properties. High levels of GFP expression have been obtained in cells ranging from yeast to human cells. It is a robust, all-purpose reporter, whose expression in the cytoplasm can be measured quantitatively using a flow sorter instrument such as a FACS.

[0110] The diagnostic kits and methods of this invention rely on the induction of specific ROS-inducible promoters to alter expression of the reporter gene. This change in expression level is measured both qualitatively and quantitatively. In order to be useful in those kits and methods, the particular stress promoter must be operably linked to the gene which encodes the reporter product.

[0111] The term “operable linkage” refers to the positioning of the promoter relative to the gene encoding the reporter product such that transcription of the gene is regulated by the promoter. Such positioning is well known in the art and involves positioning the promoter upstream (5′) of the gene so that transcription is not impeded by extraneous termination signals and where the spacing between the promoter initiation site and the regulatory sequences of the promoter are optimal for transcription.

[0112] Also within the scope of this invention are constructs wherein the reporter product is in fusion with the N-terminal portion of the native gene product, i.e. the gene product of the promoter to which the reporter is fused. It is important that the portion of native gene product fused to the reporter does not retain the function of the full length native gene product.

[0113] The choice of bacterial strain to express the particular RIP-reporter construct and thus useful in the methods and kits of this invention is only limited by the strain's ability to produce the functional reporter and its inability to synthesize the reporter in its untransformed state. Most preferably, the strain used should be defective in genes which endogenously remove ROS intracellularly. Such genes include those encoding catalase, superoxide dismutase, alkyl hydroperoxidase, and glutathione reductase. For example, where an H₂O₂-inducible promoter is used, it is preferred that the endogenous catalase genes be knocked out or mutated in the cells so that the cells lose or have decreased capacity to break down H₂O₂ endogenously.

[0114] Eukaryotic cells useful in the methods and kits of the invention include cell lines established from primary tissue, as well as those cell lines and cultures available from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC, Rockville, Md.).

[0115] The method and kits of the invention rely on a detectable reduction in ROS-inducible reporter expression to test whether a compound is capable of removing ROS. This requires that the level of reporter expression be sufficiently high in the absence of an ROS-removing compound, so that a reduction is detectable. In some embodiments, the method involves elevating the intracellular level of the ROS. Methods used to elevate the concentration of various intracellular ROS are known.

[0116] In bacteria, intracellular levels of H₂O₂ may be elevated by using glucose/glucose oxidase (GOX) or reduced glutathione (GSH) as H₂O₂-generating systems (Saliim et al. 2001). In Agrobacterium, intracellular levels of H₂O₂ may be elevated by acid conditions. In mammalian cells and in yeast, depletion of intracellular glutathione raises intracellular ROS. In at least mammalian cells, glutathione may be depleted by application of buthionine sulfoximine. Insuline stimulation also generates a burst of intracellular H₂O₂ in insulin-sensitive hepatoma and adipose cells (Mahadev et al. 2001). In Arabidopsis, application of dexamethasone activates MAP kinases and results in the generation of H₂O₂ (Ren et al. 2002).

[0117] In other embodiments, the method involves using cells where the cells have been genetically modified so that there is an elevated intracellular level of an ROS. In bacteria, E. coli strains where modulation of expression of superoxide dismutase results in modulation of intracellular superoxide (Gort and Imlay, 1998). In yeast, expression of cytochrome peroxidase, superoxide dismutase or the GSH1 gene may be modulated. In fibroblasts, cells that stably express Nox1 produces a marked increase in intracellular H₂O₂, as well as some increase in superoxide level (Arnold et al. 2001).

[0118] In an exemplary embodiment, an assay testing for a compound for its ability remove H₂O₂ would proceed along the following line. An expression construct which expresses a potential H₂O₂-remover is introduced into a cell line which contains a reporter gene under control of an H₂O₂-inducible promoter, such as the A. tumefaciens strain AG6. Production of intracellular H₂O₂ may be induced, for example by exposing the cells to low pH medium. The level of reporter protein, as indicated by the level of fluorescence if the reporter is GFP, would be reduced in the cells expressing an H₂O₂-removing compound, compared to the control cells in which the compound is absent.

[0119] An aspect of the invention relates to a method for selecting a nucleic acid which encodes a protein potentially able to remove an ROS. In this method, cells are provided which contain the RIP-reporter gene construct as described above. Expression vectors containing different nucleic acids, such as those found in a cDNA library, or in a library where the nucleic acids have been mutagenized, are used to transform the cells. These nucleic acids encode proteins which are potentially able to remove the ROS. Any reduction in the ROS-inducible expression of the reporter gene is measured, as described above, when the nucleic acids are expressed. The cells with reduced ROS-inducible expression of the reporter gene are then selected and the nucleic acid used to transform the cell is isolated. This nucleic acid would likely encode an ROS-removing protein.

[0120] The term “library” refers to a collection of nucleic acid fragments that may individually range in size from about a few base pairs to about a million base pairs. These fragments are contained as inserts in vectors capable of propagating in certain host cells such as bacterial, fungal, plant, insect, or mammalian cells.

[0121] The term “plurality of nucleic acids” refers to a set of nucleic acid molecules from any source. For example, a plurality of nucleic acids may comprise total genomic DNA, genomic DNA from one or more chromosomes, cDNA that has been reverse-transcribed from total cellular RNA or from messenger RNA (mRNA), total cellular RNA, mRNA, or a set of nucleic acid molecules synthesized in vitro either individually, or using combinatorial methods. Plurality of nucleic acids is understood to include, e.g. an expression library.

[0122] The terms “bright” and “dim” in the context of a cell sorter refer to the intensity levels of fluorescence (or other modes of light emission) exhibited by particular cells: Bright cells have high intensity emission relative to the bulk population of cells, and by inference, high levels of reporter gene expression; dim cells have low intensity emission relative to the bulk population.

[0123] The term “flow sorter” refers to a machine that analyzes light emission intensity from cells or other objects and separates these cells or objects according to parameters such as light emission intensity.

[0124] In one embodiment, the method using GFP as a reporter protein, to select for ROS-removing proteins is as follows. The ROS-inducible promoter-GFP expression construct is introduced into the chosen host cells and a stable expresser is selected. This GFP-expressing line is clonally expanded to generate a population that is bright green. A library encoding potential ROS-removers is introduced into the host cells to generate a population of GFP-containing cells, some of which also express ROS-removers. This population is examined using a flow sorter device and cells are sorted into two populations: cells that continue to express GFP at levels similar to the cells before introduction of the library inserts.; and, cells that express reduced levels of GFP. The inserts encoding ROS-removers from such “dim” cells are isolated and either used to determine their DNA sequences, or reintroduced into the GFP-containing host cells for another cycle of selection and enrichment.

[0125] One can envision a flow sorter profile diagram of the selection procedure described above. The fluorescence intensity of a population of host cells containing the library inserts prior to selection would have a normal distribution. This presorted population is used to select cells on the left tail of the distribution. The dim cells on the left of the distribution are selected and inserts from these cells are reintroduced into the original host cells. The fluorescence intensity distribution that ensues from cells transformed with such a sub-library of sequences would become skewed to the left (i.e., the mean fluorescence intensity decreases).

[0126] The present invention may use a flow sorter such as a FACS or equivalent device to screen through large numbers of host cells containing expression library inserts encoding potential ROS-removing proteins, to identify those that can remove ROS; namely, cells that have reduced levels of reporter molecule expression. Host cells which have an elevated level of ROS and which have the reporter (e.g., GFP) present under control of the ROS-inducible promoter will have a constitutively high level of reporter expression. When the expression library inserts are expressed in these cells, the large majority of cells that are analyzed by FACS are expected to have retained this high level. However, a small number may exhibit reduced expression, detected on the FACS as cells that fall on the dimmer side of the cell fluorescence distribution. These dim cells can be collected and grown in isolation of the others. Such a procedure results in enrichment from the starting population of cells for those that contain ROS-removers, which effectively reduce the level of inducer ROS, thereby reducing the level of reporter expression. These selected, dim cells can be used to reisolate the perturbagen fragments by, e.g., PCR using primer sites that flank the library inserts, so as to build a sub-library of library inserts enriched for those that cause reduced reporter expression. The sub-library of fragments can be recloned (using e.g., the same expression vector) and reintroduced into the host cells, and the screening/selection process can be repeated as many times as necessary.

[0127] After a sufficient number of cycles, a substantial difference should be observed in the fluorescence intensity distribution of the original reporter-containing host cells as compared to the host cells harboring the enriched ROS-removing sub-library inserts. Preferably, the procedure should be repeated until a minimal overlap is observed between these two fluorescence intensity distributions. Ultimately, the process of FACS sorting and cycling should result in a population of nucleic acids encoding ROS-removers that inhibit expression of the reporter. These can be isolated and studied individually by molecular cloning and DNA sequence analysis.

[0128] In order that the invention described herein may be more fully understood, the following examples are set forth. It should be understood that these examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not to be construed as limiting this invention in any manner.

EXAMPLE 1 Materials, Techniques and Assay Conditions

[0129] Strains, plasmids, and growth conditions: The strains and plasmids used in this study are listed and described in Table 1. Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains were grown in MG/L, IB or AB medium (Cangelosi et al., 1991) at 28° C., supplemented with 100 μg/ml kanamycin, 5 μg/ml tetracycline, or 100 μg/ml carbenicillin as required. Escherichia coli strains were grown on Luria-Bertani (LB) medium (Sambrook et al., 1989) at 37° C., supplemented with 50 μg/ml kanamycin, 10 μg/ml tetracycline, or 50 μg/ml ampicillin as required. Mini-Tn5 transposon mutagenesis of A. tumefaciens strain A348 was carried out by pAG408 as described (Suarez et al., 1997).

[0130] Southern analysis: Total DNA was extracted as described previously (Charles and Nester, 1993) from the A. tumefaciens mutant AG6. Approximately 1 μg of total DNA was digested with ClaI or NruI and then electrophoresed on a 0.9% agarose gel. The DNA fragments were then transferred onto nylon membrane Zeta-Probe GT (Bio-Rad) using a transfer apparatus, PosiBlot (Stratagene). The plasmid pAG408 was labelled as the probe by random priming with the enhanced chemiluminescence kit (Amersham). The labelling, hybridisation and signal detection were conducted according to the manufacturer.

[0131] Catalase isozyme assay: A. tumefaciens strains A348, AG6, AG6 (pXQ23), AG6 (pXQ26), AG6 (pXQ27), AG6 (pXQ11), and AG6 (pXQ22) were grown overnight at 28° C. in MG/L liquid medium to 1.4 OD₆₀₀. The cells were harvested by centrifugation at 4000 rpm for 10 min at 4° C. The cell pellets were washed and resuspended in 5 ml extraction buffer containing 0.05 mM phosphate and 0.4 mM EDTA (pH 7.8). The cells were sonicated for 30 sec for 6 times on ice with a 2-min cooling on ice between sonications. The cell debris was removed by centrifugation at 1100 rpm for 10 min at 4° C. The cell-free supernatant was diluted 2× with the extraction buffer, and 20 μl of each diluted extract was electrophoresed on 7.5% native polyacrylamide gels. The resolving gel buffer was prepared at pH 8.1 instead of pH 8.9. Electrophoresis was performed at 150 V for 3 hours. Catalase isozymes were visualised by an activity staining procedure according to Clare et al. (1984).

[0132] Protein analysis: SDS/PAGE was conducted in 10% or 15% polyacrylamide gels to analyze the KatA or GFP expression, respectively. The proteins were transferred onto Immobilon-P membranes (Millipore). The KatA or GFP proteins were visualized with the enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL) western blot detection system according to the recommendations of the manufacturer (Amersham). TABLE 1 Bacterial strains and plasmids used in this study Source/ Strain/plasmid Relevant characteristics* Reference Strains Agrobacterium tumefaciens A348 Wild type, A136(pTiA6NC) (octopine-type) Laboratory collection AG6 Derivative of A348 in which katA was disrupted by the This study GFP-tagged mini-Tn5 transposon at 995 bp downstream from the start condon of katA; Km^(R), Gm^(R) AG613 AG6 containing pXQ13 integrated into the This study chromosome (containing a single copy of the wild type katA and katA-gfp fusion); KmR, Gm^(R), Cb^(R) CGI1 Derivative of C58 in which aopB was disrupted by the This study GFP-tagged mini-Tn5 transposon; Km^(R, Gm) ^(R) Escherichia coli DH5a supE Δlac(Δ80ZΔM15) hsdR recA endA gyrA thi relA Bethesda Research Laboratories MT607 Pro-82 thi-1 hsdR 17 supE44 endA1 recA56 Finan, et al., 1986 Plasmids pTZ19R Cloning vector, ColE1 oriV bla, Amp^(R) US Biochemical pSW172 Broad-host-range IncP plasmid containing P_(lac) and Chen and downstream polylinker sequence, Tc^(R) Winans, 1991 pXQ6 pBluescript II KS(−) containing a 6-kb ClaI DNA This study fragment containing the sequences downstream of the mini-Tn5 insertion at the katA gene. pXQ7 pTZ19R containing a 5-kb NruI DNA fragment This study containing the sequences upstream of the mini-Tn5 insertion at the katA gene. pXQ9 pSW172 carrying a 2.8 kb XbaI-NheI fragment This study containing the wild type katA, Tc^(R) pXQ11 pSW172 carrying a 2.3 kb XbaI-NheI fragment This study containing a KatA with a 86 amino acid deletion at the C-terminus, Tc^(R) pXQ13 pTZ19R carrying a 2.8 kb EcoRI fragment from pXQ9 This study containing the wild type katA, Amp^(R) pXQ15 pRSETA carrying a 2.17 kb XhoI-KpnI fragment This study containing the full length KatA ORF fused in-frame with (His)₆, Amp^(R) pXQ22 pSW172 carrying a 2.4 kb XbaI-NheI fragment This study containing a KatA with a 50 amino acid deletion at the C-terminus, Tc^(R) pXQ23 pSW172 ligated with pXQ13 at ClaI, containing the This study wild type katA, Amp^(R) pXQ24 pTZ19R carrying a 2.8 kb EcoRI fragment from pXQ9 This study containing a katA with His 98 replaced by Asp, Amp^(R) pXQ25 pTZ19R carrying a 2.8 kb EcoRI fragment from pXQ9 This study containing a katA with Arg 94 replaced by Gln and His 98 replaced by Asp, Amp^(R) pXQ26 pSW172 ligated with pXQ24 at ClaI, containing a katA This study with His 98 replaced by Asp, Amp^(R), Tc^(R) pXQ27 pSW172 ligated with pXQ25 at ClaI, containing a katA This study with Arg 94 replaced by Gln and His 98 replaced by Asp, Amp^(R), Tc^(R) pXQ28 pTZ19R carrying a 2.8 kb EcoRI fragment from pXQ9 This study containing the a katA with Ser5 replaced by a stop codon (TGA), Amp^(R) pXQ29 pTZ19R carrying a 2.8 kb EcoRI fragment from pXQ9 This study containing the a katA with a G base pair deletion in the second codon of katA ORF, Amp^(R) pXQ30 pSW172 ligated with pXQ29 at ClaI, containing a katA This study with a G base pair deletion in the second codon of katA ORF, Amp^(R), Tc^(R) pXQ31 pSW172 ligated with pXQ28 at ClaI, containing a katA This study with Ser5 replaced by a stop codon (TGA), Amp^(R), Tc^(R)

[0133] Km, kanamycin; Tc, tetracycline; Amp, ampicillin; Gm, gentamycin.

[0134] Measurement of intracellular H₂O₂ concentrations: The intracellular concentrations of H₂O₂ were measured by the procedures previously described (González-Flecha and Demple, 1995; 1997) with modifications.

[0135] Briefly, A. tumefaciens strains A348, AG6 and AG6 (pXQ9) were grown at 28° C. for 24 hr on agar plates of AB or IB. The cells were harvested, washed and resuspended at OD₆₀₀=1.0 in 50 mM phosphate-buffer (pH 7.4). H₂O₂ generated within the cells passed through membranes and equilibrated with the buffer. Complete equilibration of the intracellular and extracellulare H₂O₂ levels occurred within 10 min in the assay (González-Flecha and Demple, 1997). After 20 min of equilibration, the cell suspensions were centrifuged for 1 min at 6,000 rpm at 4° C.

[0136] H₂O₂ concentrations in the supernatants were then measured by the Amplex Red Hydrogen Peroxide Assay Kit (Molecular Probes Inc., USA), which contains a highly sensitive and specific fluorogenic probe (N-acetyl-3,7-dihydroxyphenoxazine) for H₂O₂ and horse radish peroxidase (HRP) (Mohanty, et al, 1997). Briefly, 100 μl supernatant was mixed with 100 μl of the probe at 100 μM and 1 U/ml HRP. The fluorometric assay was conducted in a 96-well microplate and measured by Luminescence Spectrometer LS50B (Perkin Elmer). The excitation wavelength was 540 nm; the emission wavelength was 590 nm. The assays were run in four replicates; the concentrations were then calculated based on the H₂O₂ standard curves generated simutaneously.

[0137] Catalase activity assay: The catalase activity in whole bacterial cells was determined as previously described (Maciver and Hansen, 1996) except using the Amplex Red Catalase Assay Kit (Molecular Probes Inc., USA). Briefly, A. tumefaciens strains were grown at 28° C. for 24 hr on IB plates. The cells were harvested, washed and resuspended at OD₆₀₀=1.0 in 50 mM phosphate-buffer (pH 7.4). For the strains with the wild type katA [A348, AG6 (pXQ9), and AG6 (pXQ23)], 100 μl cell suspension of each sample was incubated with 50 μl 40 μM H₂O₂ at time intervals of 0, 30 sec, 1 min and 2 min.

[0138] For the strains with the katA mutants [AG6, AG6 (pXQ11), AG6 (pXQ22), AG6 (pXQ26) and AG6 (pXQ27)], 100 μl cell suspension of each sample was incubated with 50 μl 5 μM H₂O₂ at time intervals of 0, 1, 2, and up to 6 min. The amount of H₂O₂ left after degradation by the bacterial catalase was then determined by adding 50 μl Amplex Red reagent N-acetyl-3, 7-dihydroxyphenoxazine at 25 μM and 0.4 U/ml horse radish peroxidase provided by the kit. The fluorometric assay was conducted by the same procedure as described above for the measurement of intracellular H₂O₂. The cell suspensions without the added H₂O₂ were used as the blank. Solutions of crystalline bovine catalase (Sigma) were used to standardize this assay.

EXAMPLE 2 Cloning, Sequencing and Characterization of the katA Gene Encoding Catalase from Agrobacterium

[0139] The total DNA was extracted from AG6 which contains a mini-Tn5 insertion at the katA gene. Southern analysis revealed a 6-kb ClaI DNA fragment containing the sequences downstream of the mini-Tn5 insertion at the katA gene and a 5-kb NruI DNA fragment containing the sequences upstream of the insertion. Those DNA fragments were extracted from the agarose gels and were cleaned by using GENECLEAN II Kit (BIO 101). The ClaI DNA fragment was cloned into pBluescript II KS (−) at the ClaI site, and the NruI DNA fragment was cloned into pTZ19R at the SmaI site.

[0140] The resulting plasmids were designated as pXQ6 and pXQ7, respectively. Sequencing of pXQ6 and pXQ7 was carried out using a mini-Tn5 specific primer and the M13 reverse and −40 universal primers. The resulting sequence data were then used to generate primers for further sequencing. DNA sequencing was carried out using the ABI PRISM 377 DNA Sequencer.

[0141] In order to clone the full length katA gene, primers p83 (5′-GGTGCGCTAGCCAAATTCGTCACCAAGC-3′) and n84 (5′-CAATCGCTAGCGTTCGGCCCTCTG-3′) were designed that can respectively reanneal to the upstream and downstream sequences of the katA gene. Both primers had a NheI site to facilitate subsequent cloning. The total DNA from A. tumefaciens strain A348 was used as the template for PCR to amplify a 2.9 kb DNA fragment. The PCR product was digested with NheI and ligated into pSW172 (Chen and Winans, 1991) that had been digested with XbaI. The resulting plasmid pXQ9 was sequenced in both directions independently to obtain unambiguous sequence data. Plasmid pXQ9 was introduced into the mini-Tn5 mutant AG6 to create AG6 (pXQ9) by triparental mating (Ditta et al., 1980) based on selection on MG/L medium supplemented with 100 μg/ml of kanamycin and 5 μg/ml of tetracycline.

[0142] The following is a characterization of katA encoding catalase from Agrobacterium. A. tumefaciens A348 was mutagenized with a mini-Tn5 transposon containing a promoter-less gene encoding a green fluorescent protein (GFP) variant, which produces bright green fluorescence under UV light. The mini-Tn5 transposon was carried on a plasmid pAG408 (Suarez et al., 1997). One of the mutants AG6 contained the transposon insertion at a gene that was differentially induced by pH on a minimal medium.

[0143] The leaves of Kalanchoe plants were inoculated with this mutant strain AG6 and compared with the parent strain A348. AG6 was highly attenuated in the ability to cause tumors on plants as compared with A348. In order to isolate the mini-Tn5 containing DNA fragments, Southern analysis was conducted to estimate their sizes. A 6-kb ClaI DNA fragment containing the sequences downstream of the transposon insertion site and a 5-kb NruI DNA fragment containing the sequences upstream of the insertion site were cloned into the vectors, resulting in plasmids pXQ6 and pXQ7, respectively. Sequence analysis of pXQ6 and pXQ7 revealed that the transposon was inserted at a gene that is homologous to bacterial genes encoding catalases. This gene is designated as katA.

[0144] In order to determine the complete sequence of the gene, the DNA fragment was amplified from A348 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A fragment of 2.9 kb was obtained that contained both the upstream and downstream sequences of katA. The resulting fragment was cloned into pSW172 (Chen and Winans, 1991) to generate plasmid pXQ9. When pXQ9 was introduced into AG6, it could fully restore the ability of the mutant to cause tumors, suggesting that pXQ9 carried a full length katA gene. Sequence analysis indicated that the katA locus carried a single open reading frame (ORF) which encodes a putative protein of 723 amino acids with a molecular weight of 78.7 kDa. This putative protein was highly homologous to other bacterial catalases (FIG. 1).

[0145] To determine whether the katA gene encodes a functional catalase, the catalase isozyme patterns were analyzed for the mutant, parent strain and complemented strain by using a catalase activity staining procedure. As shown in FIG. 2A, both the parent strain A348 and the complemented strain AG6 (pXQ9) had three distinct catalase activity bands (I, II and III), whereas the mutant AG6 had only one band (I). This demonstrated that the transposon insertion at the katA gene in AG6 knocked out two catalase activity bands.

[0146] To investigate whether these two catalase activity bands originated from the same katA gene, different amounts of the bacterial cell extracts were loaded on the polyacrylamide gels for the catalase activity staining. It was found that the catalase activity band III disappeared even in A348 when less amount of the cell extract was loaded (FIG. 2B). This suggests that the catalase activity bands II and III originated from the same katA gene product. The catalase activity band III appeared only when a sufficient amount of cell extract was loaded, suggesting that the band III was an aggregated form of catalase activity band II.

[0147] It was important to determine whether this katA gene encoded a protein that possessed both catalase and peroxidase activities like some of the catalase genes (Loewen, 1997). When the peroxidase activities with the same cell extracts were stained (Gregory and Fridovich, 1974), no peroxidase activity was found to be associated with the catalase activity bands. Taken together, these suggest that the katA gene encodes a catalase isozyme in the A. tumefaciens cells.

EXAMPLE 3 Determination of katA-gfp Expression Based on GFP

[0148] To study the katA gene expression in different growth conditions, A. tumefaciens strains A348 and AG6 were grown at 28° C. for 24 hr on agar plates of MG/L, AB, IB (Cangelosi et al., 1991), and fresh Kalanchoe leaf tissue and stem tissue sections which were sterile and placed on MS medium (Murashige and Skoog, 1962). The cells were harvested, washed and diluted to a concentration of approximately OD₆₀₀=0.5. The fluorescence of each cell suspension was measured by Luminescence Spectrometer LS50B (Perkin Elmer) using A348 as the blank. The excitation wavelength was 423 nm; the emission wavelength was 509 nm. The fluorescence levels were expressed as the fluorescence values divided by the corresponding OD₆₀₀.

[0149] To study the katA gene expression in different genetic backgrounds, A. tumefaciens strains A348, AG6, AG6 (pSW172), AG6 (pXQ9), A613, CGI1 and CGI1 (pXQ9) were grown at 28° C. for 24 hours on IB (pH 5.5) agar plates. The fluorescence of each strain was determined as described above.

[0150] To determine if H₂O₂ can induce the katA expression, AG6 was grown in MG/L liquid medium overnight at 28° C. The cells were harvested and resuspended in fresh MG/L liquid medium to a final concentration of OD₆₀₀=0.5. Aliquots (2 ml) of the cultures were transferred into sterile tubes, and H₂O₂ was added to the tubes to final concentrations of 30 μM, 60 μM and 120 μM. The cell suspensions were incubated at 28° C. for 2 hours. Then 1 ml of each cell suspension was centrifuged, washed and resuspended in the Laemmli (1970) sample buffer, and subjected to Western blot as described later.

EXAMPLE 4 Mutagenesis

[0151] The C-terminus of KatA was deleted by PCR to generate pXQ11 and pXQ22. Site-directed mutagenesis of katA was performed by overlap extension PCR (Ho et al, 1989). Four oligonucleotides were designed to mutate a single one amino acid of the KatA protein. Two residues Arg 94 and His 98 in the putative catalase motif are highly conserved. His 98 was changed to Asp; alternatively, Arg 94 was changed to Gln and His 98 was changed to Asp. A 450 bp NsiI -AatII PCR fragment containing a single mutation at His 98 or double mutations at both His 98 and Arg 94 was used to replace the corresponding NsiI -AatII fragment of pXQ13 containing the wild-type katA, in order to generate pXQ24 or pXQ25, respectively. The presence of the expected point mutations in NsiI-AatII fragment was confirmed by DNA sequencing using the ABI PRISM 377 DNA Sequencer. Similarly, A 670 bp MfeI-AatII PCR fragment containing an introduced stop codon at Ser 5 or a frameshift deletion at the second codon of the katA ORF was used to replace the corresponding MfeI-AatII fragment of pXQ13 containing the wild-type katA, to generate pXQ28 and pXQ29, respectively.

EXAMPLE 5 Purification of His-KatA Fusion Protein and Generation of Antibody to KatA

[0152] To generate a (His)₆-KatA fusion construct, an oligomer (containing XhoI site) complementary to the start of the KatA ORF and an oligomer (containing KphI site) was used to amplify the KatA ORF fragment. The 2.17 kb XhoI-KpnI fragment was inserted in-frame downstream of (His)₆ harbored on pRSETA. The resulting pXQ15 was introduced into BL21 by tranformation. BL21 (pXQ15) was grown overnight in LB medium in the presence of 100 μg/ml of carbenicillin at 37° C. The cell culture was harvested. Purification of (His)₆-KatA was conducted with TALON metal affinity resin according to the manufacturer (Clontech). The purified protein was injected into rabbits to generate the primary antibody. Protein analysis of KatA or GFP was carried out as described above.

EXAMPLE 6 Complementation

[0153] Plasmids pXQ13, pXQ24, pXQ25, pXQ28 and pXQ29 were digested by ClaI and ligated with ClaI digested pSW172 to generate pXQ23, pXQ26, pXQ27 pXQ30 and pXQ31. Plasmids pSW172, pXQ11, pXQ22, pXQ23, pXQ26, pXQ27, pXQ30 and pXQ31 were introduced into the mini-Tn5 mutant AG6 by triparental mating (Ditta et al., 1980) or electroporation (Cangelosi et al., 1991). Plasmid pXQ13 was introduced into AG6 by electroporation, followed by selection in the presence of carbenicillin. The resulting strain AG613 was obtained that underwent a single crossover homologous recombination at the katA locus; it was confirmed by Southern analysis. These transformant strains were analyzed for the GFP and KatA expression levels.

[0154] The intracellular concentrations of H₂O₂ were measured according to the technique described above in Example 1 (“Measurement of intracellular H₂O₂ concentrations”).

[0155] The catalase activity in whole bacterial cells was determined as described above in Example 1 (“Catalase activity assay”).

EXAMPLE 7 Intercellular Repression of katA-gfp Expression

[0156] To determine whether catalase activity of one bacterial cell could affect the katA-gfp gene expression of another cell, AG6 was co-cultured with other bacteria which contained catalase activity. The bacterial cells grown overnight were suspended in IB liquid and adjusted to OD₆₀₀=1.0. The AG6 cell suspension was mixed with another bacterial suspension at 1:1 ratio. An aliquot of 12 μl bacterial suspension of a single strain or a mixture of two strains was spotted onto IB plates. The plates were incubated overnight at 28° C.

[0157] The bacterial fluorescence under UV light was photographed and the intensity for GFP expression was measured by the procedure described earlier. To check the growth viability of each strain in the co-culture mixture, a portion of each co-culture mixture was harvested to test the viable cell count on MG/L (for total viable cell count) and MG/L supplemented with 100 μg/ml kanamycin (for AG6 viable cell count)

EXAMPLE 8 katA is Inducible by Acidic pH

[0158]A. tumefaciens mutant AG6 contained a mini-Tn5 transposon containing a promoter-less green fluorescent protein (GFP) variant; the mini-Tn5 transposon was inserted at 995 bp downstream from the start codon of katA. Since the gfp gene was under the control of the katA promoter (designated as katA-gfp), the katA expression would lead to the accumulation of GFP, which could be visualized as bright green fluorescence under UV light. Therefore, the differential expression of katA in A. tumefaciens could be determined by measuring the GFP expression of the mutant AG6 in different conditions.

[0159] The katA-gfp expression was examined by growing AG6 on different growth media, MG/L (a rich medium; pH 7.0), AB (a minimal medium; pH 7.0), and IB (a minimal medium; pH 5.5), as well as on fresh Kalanchoe leaf tissue and stem tissue sections. As shown in FIG. 3, the fluorescence level of the bacteria grown on IB was about 10-20 fold higher than that on neutral pH media including AB and MG/L. The fluorescence levels on Kalanchoe leaf tissue and stem tissue sections were about 5-10 fold higher than those in the neutral pH media. This indicates that katA might be induced by acidic pH, as the plant tissues also have acidic pH and minimal nutrition (Li et al., 1999).

[0160] Previous experiments have demonstrated that IB medium is representative of the growth conditions the bacteria encounter inside plant tissues during the infection process (Li et al., 1999). To confirm that acidic pH can induce the katA expression, the fluorescence level on IB (pH 5.5) was compared with that on the medium having the same IB ingredients but with the pH adjusted to pH 7.0 (IB pH 7.0). As shown in FIG. 3, the fluorescence level on IB (pH 7.0) was reduced to a level that was similar to other neutral media, including AB and MG/L. This demonstrates that acidic pH can induce the katA expression.

EXAMPLE 9 Repression of katA-gfp Expression by katA

[0161] As shown earlier, the plasmid pXQ9 which carried a full-length katA gene could fully complement the katA mutation. When the fluorescence level in the complemented strain AG6 (pXQ9) was analyzed, it was surprisingly found that this strain had a highly reduced fluorescence (60-70 fold reduction, as shown in FIG. 4). It appeared that the wild type katA could repress the katA-gfp expression.

[0162] To determine if katA could specifically repress katA-gfp, pXQ9 was introduced into a different mini-Tn5 transposon mutant strain CGI1, which contained the transposon insertion at a chromosomal gene aopB and could produce bright green fluorescence under UV light. As shown in FIG. 4, the katA gene did not repress the aopB-gfp expression. This suggests that katA can specifically repress katA-gfp expression.

[0163] It was of interest to determine whether the copy number and the location of katA could affect the ability to repress. katA was integrated into the chromosome of AG6 through single-crossover homologous recombination. The resulting strain AG613 contained a single copy of the wild-type katA and a single copy of the katA-gfp fusion as verified by Southern analysis. AG613 had a very low level of katA-gfp expression, just like AG6 (pXQ9) harboring the katA gene on a plasmid (FIG. 4). This suggests that only one copy of katA was sufficient to repress the katA-gfp expression, no matter whether katA is located on plasmid or chromosome.

EXAMPLE 10 Requirements of the katA-gfp Repression

[0164] It was of interest to determine if the repression by katA occurred at the mRNA level or protein level. Site-directed mutagenesis was conducted to generate mutants that produced no or truncated KatA protein. The C at the nucleotide position 14 within the katA open reading frame (ORF) was changed to G. This created a stop codon at Ser 5 [designated as ΔkatA (*5)]; the resulting plasmid was named (pXQ31) (FIG. 5; Table 1). A frameshift deletion at katA was then created by deleting the G of the second codon in the katA ORF [designated as ΔkatA (˜2)]; the resulting plasmid was named pXQ30 (FIG. 5).

[0165] As shown in FIG. 6, the pXQ31 construct did not generate any KatA protein. pXQ30 generated a trace amount of KatA-like protein, presumably produced from an alternative translation site downstream from the start codon or due to infrequent frame shifting of the ribosome, which could restore the translation of the protein. These two constructs did not repress the katA-gfp expression as determined by both the GFP fluorescence and western analysis using the antibody to GFP (FIG. 7). This suggests that production of the KatA protein is required for the repression.

[0166] It was then important to determine whether a full-length KatA polypeptide was required for the repression. The 86 amino acids (designated as KatAΔ86) and 50 amino acids (KatAΔ50) at the C-terminus of KatA were deleted to generate pXQ11 and pXQ22, respectively (FIG. 5). These constructs produced smaller sizes of KatA proteins as expected (FIG. 6B, lanes 3 and 4). However, the amounts of these truncated KatA proteins were much less than the wild type KatA (harbored on pXQ9) (lane 2), indicating that these truncated KatA proteins were unstable. These truncated proteins did not repress the katA-gfp expression at a significant level (FIG. 7, lanes 9 and 10), presumably because they did not exhibit any significant catalase activity (FIG. 8; Table 2). TABLE 2 Catalase activity in whole bacterial cells containing the wild type or mutant katA genes^(a) Catalase activity Strain Protein expressed (unit/10⁸ cells) AG6(pXQ23) KatA 77145.5 ± 440.3  AG6(pXQ9) KatA 3997.3 ± 459.1 A348 KatA 1486.2 ± 149.5 AG6(pXQ26) KatA(98H/D)  219.3 ± 19.5^(b) AG6(pXQ11) KatAΔ86   193.6 ± 25.2^(c ) AG6(pXQ27) KatA(94R/Q)(98H/D)   184.0 ± 25.1^(c ) AG6(pXQ22) KatAΔ50   182.7 ± 21.5^(c ) AG6 KatA   175.2 ± 20.2^(c )

[0167] Since the truncated KatA proteins did not possess any catalase activity detected by an isozyme staining procedure (FIG. 8), it was important to know whether a functional catalase activity was required for this feedback repression. The amino acid sequence of A. tumefaciens catalase KatA was analyzed by a motif search program (http://www.motif.genome.ad.jp). It revealed that a motif of 12 amino acids (VGMMARVTWHAA) located from amino acid 89 to 100 from the start codon was qualified for a peroxidases active site signature. This motif might be involved in the catalase activity.

[0168] Site-directed mutagenesis was conducted to inactivate the catalase activity. Computer analysis revealed that Arg 94 and His 98 in the conservative motif of KatA might be crucial for the catalase activity. Previous studies have indicated that the corresponding residues Arg 102 and His 106 of the E. coli homolog HPI are important for the catalase activity (Hillar et al., 2000). His 98 was changed to Asp [designated as KatA (98H/D)]; Arg 94 was changed to Gln and His 98 was changed to Asp [designated as KatA (94R/Q) (98H/D)]. The resulting plasmids were named pXQ26 and pXQ27, respectively.

[0169] As shown in FIG. 8, both the wild-type strain A348 and the complemented strain AG6 (pXQ23) had the KatA catalase activity bands, whereas they were missing in the mutant AG6, AG6 (pXQ26) and AG6 (pXQ27). This suggests that alteration of His 98 or both Arg 94 and His 98 in the conservative motif of KatA abolished the KatA catalase activity detected by the staining procedure. Western blot analysis was performed to check the stability of the mutant proteins. As shown in FIG. 6A, AG6 (pXQ26) and AG6 (pXQ27) produced the same size of KatA proteins as the wild type, and a high level of the point mutant proteins accumulated in the cells. As shown in FIG. 7, these two point mutant proteins could slightly repress the katA-gfp expression. The GFP expression was virtually undetectable in AG6 (pXQ23) (lane 4), but it was reduced in AG6 (pXQ26) and AG6 (pXQ27) (lanes 5 and 6), as compared with the strains expressing no or truncated protein KatA (lanes 7, 8, 9 and 10).

[0170] It was important to determine if the mutant KatA proteins possessed any trace amount of catalase activity. The genes encoding those mutant proteins were introduced into AG6 that lacks katA. Then the catalase activity in whole bacterial cells was measured, because this could presumably avoid any inactivation of catalase activity due to the cell break-up process.

[0171] As shown in Table 2, the catalase activity in the bacteria containing the mutant protein, KatAΔ86, KatA (94R/Q) (98H/D) or KatAΔ50 was slightly higher than that in AG6, but not at a statistically significant level. This suggests that these mutant KatA proteins did not possess any significant catalase activity. The activities in whole cells for those bacteria were apparently due to the catalase other than KatA, since AG6 (which lacks katA) possessed catalase activity (FIG. 8 and Table 2). The catalase activity in AG6 (pXQ26) was statistically higher than that of AG6, suggesting that KatA (98H/D) possessed a low level of catalase activity. This low activity presumably has contributed to the low repression of katA-gfp (FIG. 7).

[0172] It is interesting to note that KatA (94R/Q) (98H/D) [in the strain AG6 (pXQ27)] repressed the expression of katA-gfp at a low level (FIG. 7), since the activity for this protein was not statistically significant and was lower (if any) than that of KatAΔ86 (Table 2), which did not repress the katA-gfp expression at a significant level (FIG. 7). This suggests that both the KatA catalase activity and the protein itself were involved in the repression of katA-gfp.

[0173] In summary, the repression of katA-gfp expression required the production of a functional KatA protein that possessed the catalase activity. In addition, among the mutant KatA proteins only KatA (98H/D) and KatA (94R/Q) (98H/D) could significantly repress the katA-gfp expression at a level much lower than the wild-type KatA (FIG. 7). Incidentally, only these two mutant KatA proteins accumulated at a very high level in the bacteria (FIG. 6). This suggests that the sheer amount of the KatA proteins present in the cells might contribute to the repression, presumably because the mutant KatA proteins could still bind to H₂O₂ to reduce the availability of intracellular H₂O₂ to induce katA-gfp expression. KatA (98H/D) repressed the katA-gfp expression at a level slightly higher than KatA (94R/Q) (98H/D) (FIG. 7), presumably due to its low catalase activity while KatA (94R/Q) (98H/D) did not possess any significant catalase activity (Table 2) because both two important residues at the putative active site have been altered (FIG. 5).

EXAMPLE 11 katA Can Be Induced by Hydrogen Peroxide

[0174] It was then important to determine how the catalase activity repressed the katA-gfp expression. One possibility is that catalase may reduce the intracellular H₂O₂ levels to repress the katA-gfp expression. To determine whether the expression of katA can be induced by H₂O₂, like some of other bacterial catalases (Loewen, 1997), AG6 was treated with low concentrations of H₂O₂ (30-120 μM) in liquid MG/L medium and the katA-gfp expression levels were then determined.

[0175] As shown in FIG. 9, the katA-gfp expression levels increased significantly in the presence of H₂O₂, suggesting that the katA expression could be induced by H₂O₂. This indicates that the reason that the catalase activity could repress the katA-gfp expression is that catalase could deplete the katA inducer level. This implies that the endogenous H₂O₂ acts as the intracellular inducer for the katA expression inside A. tumefaciens cells and that induction of katA by acidic pH involves the increase of intracellular H₂O₂ levels.

EXAMPLE 12 Acidic pH Could Enhance the Accumulation of Intracellular H₂O₂ in katA Cells

[0176] Since katA could be induced by H₂O₂, it was important to determine whether the induction of katA by acidic pH was indeed due to the enhanced levels of endogenous H₂O₂ in the bacterial cells. The intracellular H₂O₂ concentrations were measured for the bacteria grown on the acidic IB plates (pH 5.5) or AB plates of neutral pH (pH 7.0), according to the previously described procedures (González-Flecha and Demple, 1995; 1997) that were based on a complete equilibration of the intracellular and extracellular H₂O₂ levels of the bacterial cells that were grown on IB or AB and then resuspended in a phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) (see the Materials and Methods).

[0177] As shown in Table 3, the intracellular H₂O₂ concentration for the AG6 cells grown on IB was about 10 times higher than those for the bacterial cells containing the wild-type katA [A348 and AG6 (pXQ9)]. The level for the AG6 cells grown on AB was about 4 times higher than those for the bacteria having the wild type katA. The level of intracellular H₂O₂ increased about 3 times when the AG6 cells were switched from pH 7.0 to pH 5.5. The intracellular H₂O₂ concentrations were virtually constant for the bacteria having the wild type katA, no mater whether they were grown on AB or IB plates. These indicate that mutation at katA enhanced the accumulation of intracellular H₂O₂ for the bacteria grown at acidic pH. The elevated level of intracellular H₂O₂ caused by acidic pH in the absence of functional katA induced the expression of katA-gfp. TABLE 3 Intracellular H₂O₂ concentrations of bacteria grown on IB and AB plates^(a) H₂O₂(μM) Strain AB (pH 7.0) IB (pH 5.5) A348 0.12 ± 0.03 0.13 ± 0.02 AG6 0.41 ± 0.08 1.16 ± 0.14 AG6(pXQ9) 0.10 ± 0.02 0.09 ± 0.01

EXAMPLE 13 Intracellular H₂O₂ Scavenging Assay Technology

[0178] The studies indicate that mutation at katA can enhance the accumulation of intracellular H₂O₂ in the bacterial cells grown at acidic pH. The elevated level of intracellular H₂O₂ caused by acidic pH in the absence of functional katA can induce the expression of katA-gfp. When a katA gene encoding a functional catalase is introduced into the cells lacking the katA gene, katA-gfp expression is dramatically repressed (FIGS. 4, 7, 8 and 10).

[0179] Two mutant KatA proteins truncated at the C-terminus exhibited a very low level of accumulation in the cells and no significant catalase activity; neither mutant repressed katA-gfp expression at any significant level (FIGS. 7 and 8; Table 2). These indicate that the katA-gfp expression levels can reflect the intracellular H₂O₂ scavenging capacity of the cells. If the cells are introduced with molecules, large or small, that can scavenge the intracellular H₂O₂ levels, the katA-gfp expression will be repressed. Therefore, measuring the katA-gfp expression can monitor the intracellular H₂O₂ scavenging capacity of a molecule that is introduced into the cells.

[0180] In the present study, the fully functional catalase gene katA repressed the katA-gfp expression at the highest level; thus it has the highest capacity to scavenge intracellular H₂O₂ (FIGS. 4, 7 and 10). Two mutant KatA proteins truncated at the C-terminus exhibited a very low level of accumulation in the cells and no significant catalase activity; neither repressed the katA-gfp expression at any significant level (FIGS. 7 and 8; Table 2). Thus, they have no significant capacity to scavenge intracellular H₂O₂. Two other mutant KatA proteins, KatA (98H/D) and KatA (94R/Q) (98H/D), could significantly repress the katA-gfp expression at a level much lower than the wild-type KatA (FIG. 7).

[0181] Incidentally, only these two mutant KatA proteins accumulated at a very high level in the bacteria (FIG. 6). This suggests that the sheer amount of the KatA proteins present in the cells might contribute to the repression, presumably because the mutant KatA proteins could still bind to H₂O₂ to reduce the availability of intracellular H₂O₂. KatA (98H/D) repressed the katA-gfp expression at a level slightly higher than KatA (94R/Q) (98H/D) (FIG. 7), presumably due to its low catalase activity while KatA (94R/Q) (98H/D) did not possess any significant catalase activity (Table 2). All of these indicate that this assay technology is extremely sensitive in determining the intracellular H₂O₂ scavenging capacities of different molecules and that this assay can analyze molecules that can scavenge intracellular H₂O₂ directly or indirectly.

EXAMPLE 14 Repression of katA-gfp Expression by Surrounding Bacterial Cells

[0182] To investigate whether the repression of katA-gfp expression could occur intercellularly, AG6 was co-cultured with the wild type stain A348 (see Example 7). As shown in FIG. 10, A348 indeed could repress the katA-gfp expression in the surrounding AG6 cells, when A348 was mixed with AG6 (upper panel). The fluorescence level of the A348+AG6 mixture was reduced about 20 fold as compared to that of AG6 alone (lower panel). Evaluation of the viable cell count of the AG6+A348 mixture showed that AG6 was 50% of the total cells as expected, suggesting that the repression in the mixture was caused intercellularly and not simply due to the dilution effect from the non-fluorescent A348 cells.

[0183] This intercellular repression phenomenon was also observed when AG6 was co-cultured with R. meliloti and E. coli which contained the catalase genes (Herouart et al, 1996; Loewen, 1997) and possessed the catalase activity as measured by the catalase activity assay. The repression of katA-gfp expression by R. meliloti and E. coli was weaker than that of A348 (FIG. 10), presumably because they grew slower than AG6 on IB plate as demonstrated by the viable cell count experiment. These suggest that H₂O₂ generated in AG6 could pass through the bacterial cell membranes and enter into the surrounding cells that possessed the catalase activity equivalent to KatA. The repression of katA-gfp expression could be achieved by catalases from other bacterial species. This indicates that intracellular H₂O₂ scavengers can be applied, external and adjacent to the cells under oxidative stress, in the form of live cells or non-living systems that can receive H₂O₂ from the adjacent cells under oxidative stress.

[0184] Interestingly, active catalase added to the medium of AG6 cells did not repress katA-gfp expression. Catalase purchased from Sigma was added into IB plates at a final concentration of 1 or 5 microgram per ml. AG6 cells (carrying the katA-gfp fusion) were then grown on the IB plate. The bacterial cells exhibited the same level of GFP expression as the AG6 cells grown in the absence of catalase. To ensure that the catalase in the IB medium was still active, hydrogen peroxide was dropped onto the catalase-containing plate. Air bubbles were instantly visible in the catalase-containing plate; no air bubble was found in the control catalase-free IB plate. This demonstrated that the catalase in the medium was active. Therefore, it can be concluded that extracellular catalase could not remove the intracellular hydrogen peroxide.

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[0223] While a number of embodiments have been presented, it is apparent that the basic construction can be altered to provide other embodiments which utilize the methods and kits of the invention. The scope of the invention is to be defined by the claims appended hereto rather than the specific embodiments presented herein by way of example.

1 5 1 522 DNA Agrobacterium tumefaciens 1 ggcacgatcg cctatgacgt cgcgggtctg aagaccttcg gcttcgcctt cggccgcgaa 60 gacatctggg cgccggaaaa ggacacctat tggggtgacg aaaaggaatg gctggcgccg 120 agcgacggcc gttatggcga cgtgagcaag cccgagacgc tggaaaaccc gcttgccgcc 180 gtgcagatgg gcctgatcta cgtcaacccg gaaggtgtca acggcaagtc cgatccgctg 240 gcgacggcgg cgcagatgcg cgaaaccttt gcccgcatgg ggatggatga cgaggaaacc 300 gttgccctga cggccggcgg ccacaccatc ggcaagtccc atggcaatgg cagtgctgcc 360 aatctcagcc ccgatccgga agctgctggc ccggaatatc agggtctcgg ctggatcaat 420 accaagggcc gcggcattgg ccgtgacacc gtggtgtcgg gtatcgaagg cgcatggaca 480 agcgaaccaa ccaagtggga caacggcttc ttcgacatgc tg 522 2 2839 DNA Agrobacterium tumefaciens CDS (308)..(2476) 2 aggctgggag atggcgcagg cttccgccgc gcgcccgaaa tggccgattt tggccagcgc 60 atcgaaataa cggagatgtt tcatggagag ggcaatcata agctcagcat atcgcagcct 120 ttagaatata caattggaaa ttatggaacc cggctgttag tcatcttcat gacagaaaga 180 agctgtagct gtggatgatc atcggcatcg cagcaggtcg tttgagacct gccgctgcct 240 ctggctcgga atgctgcaca tgtcgaactg ataatttgtt taattgctaa tcccatcgga 300 gggcgaa atg gac gca act tca aaa ccg gct ggc aag tgt ccc gtc atg 349 Met Asp Ala Thr Ser Lys Pro Ala Gly Lys Cys Pro Val Met 1 5 10 cat gga ggc aat acg gcc tcc ggc aaa tcg gtg acc gaa tgg tgg ccg 397 His Gly Gly Asn Thr Ala Ser Gly Lys Ser Val Thr Glu Trp Trp Pro 15 20 25 30 aac gcg cta aac ctc gac atc ctg cat cag cac gac acc aag acc aat 445 Asn Ala Leu Asn Leu Asp Ile Leu His Gln His Asp Thr Lys Thr Asn 35 40 45 ccg ctc ggc acc tcc ttc aac tac cgc gaa gcg ctg aag acg ctt gat 493 Pro Leu Gly Thr Ser Phe Asn Tyr Arg Glu Ala Leu Lys Thr Leu Asp 50 55 60 gtc gaa gcc ctc aag gcc gat ctg cgc gcg ctt atg acc gac agc cag 541 Val Glu Ala Leu Lys Ala Asp Leu Arg Ala Leu Met Thr Asp Ser Gln 65 70 75 gaa tgg tgg ccg gcc gac tgg ggc agt tat gtc ggc atg atg gcc cgt 589 Glu Trp Trp Pro Ala Asp Trp Gly Ser Tyr Val Gly Met Met Ala Arg 80 85 90 gtt acc tgg cat gcc gcc ggt tcc tat cgt gtc aca gac ggt cgc ggc 637 Val Thr Trp His Ala Ala Gly Ser Tyr Arg Val Thr Asp Gly Arg Gly 95 100 105 110 ggc gcc aat acc ggc aac cag cgt ttt gca ccg ctc aat tcc tgg ccg 685 Gly Ala Asn Thr Gly Asn Gln Arg Phe Ala Pro Leu Asn Ser Trp Pro 115 120 125 gac aac gtc aac acc gac aag ggc cgc cgc ctg ctg tgg ccg atc aag 733 Asp Asn Val Asn Thr Asp Lys Gly Arg Arg Leu Leu Trp Pro Ile Lys 130 135 140 aag aaa tac ggc aac aag att tcc tgg gcc gac ctt atc gcg ctc gcc 781 Lys Lys Tyr Gly Asn Lys Ile Ser Trp Ala Asp Leu Ile Ala Leu Ala 145 150 155 ggc acg atc gcc tat gac gtc gcg ggt ctg aag acc ttc ggc ttc gcc 829 Gly Thr Ile Ala Tyr Asp Val Ala Gly Leu Lys Thr Phe Gly Phe Ala 160 165 170 ttc ggc cgc gaa gac atc tgg gcg ccg gaa aag gac acc tat tgg ggt 877 Phe Gly Arg Glu Asp Ile Trp Ala Pro Glu Lys Asp Thr Tyr Trp Gly 175 180 185 190 gac gaa aag gaa tgg ctg gcg ccg agc gac ggc cgt tat ggc gac gtg 925 Asp Glu Lys Glu Trp Leu Ala Pro Ser Asp Gly Arg Tyr Gly Asp Val 195 200 205 agc aag ccc gag acg ctg gaa aac ccg ctt gcc gcc gtg cag atg ggc 973 Ser Lys Pro Glu Thr Leu Glu Asn Pro Leu Ala Ala Val Gln Met Gly 210 215 220 ctg atc tac gtc aac ccg gaa ggt gtc aac ggc aag tcc gat ccg ctg 1021 Leu Ile Tyr Val Asn Pro Glu Gly Val Asn Gly Lys Ser Asp Pro Leu 225 230 235 gcg acg gcg gcg cag atg cgc gaa acc ttt gcc cgc atg ggg atg gat 1069 Ala Thr Ala Ala Gln Met Arg Glu Thr Phe Ala Arg Met Gly Met Asp 240 245 250 gac gag gaa acc gtt gcc ctg acg gcc ggc ggc cac acc atc ggc aag 1117 Asp Glu Glu Thr Val Ala Leu Thr Ala Gly Gly His Thr Ile Gly Lys 255 260 265 270 tcc cat ggc aat ggc agt gct gcc aat ctc agc ccc gat ccg gaa gct 1165 Ser His Gly Asn Gly Ser Ala Ala Asn Leu Ser Pro Asp Pro Glu Ala 275 280 285 gct ggc ccg gaa tat cag ggt ctc ggc tgg atc aat acc aag ggc cgc 1213 Ala Gly Pro Glu Tyr Gln Gly Leu Gly Trp Ile Asn Thr Lys Gly Arg 290 295 300 ggc att ggc cgt gac acc gtg gtg tcg ggt atc gaa ggc gca tgg aca 1261 Gly Ile Gly Arg Asp Thr Val Val Ser Gly Ile Glu Gly Ala Trp Thr 305 310 315 agc gaa cca acc aag tgg gac aac ggc ttc ttc gac atg ctg ttc aag 1309 Ser Glu Pro Thr Lys Trp Asp Asn Gly Phe Phe Asp Met Leu Phe Lys 320 325 330 cac gag tgg acc ctg acg cac agc ccc gcg ggt gca tcg caa tgg gcg 1357 His Glu Trp Thr Leu Thr His Ser Pro Ala Gly Ala Ser Gln Trp Ala 335 340 345 350 ccg att acc atc gcc gaa gaa gac aag cct gtt gat gtc gag gat gcg 1405 Pro Ile Thr Ile Ala Glu Glu Asp Lys Pro Val Asp Val Glu Asp Ala 355 360 365 tcg atc cgc acc atc ccg atg atg acc gac gcc gac atg gcc ctg aag 1453 Ser Ile Arg Thr Ile Pro Met Met Thr Asp Ala Asp Met Ala Leu Lys 370 375 380 gtc gat ccg atc tac cgc gag att tcg ctg aag ttc aag gac gat cag 1501 Val Asp Pro Ile Tyr Arg Glu Ile Ser Leu Lys Phe Lys Asp Asp Gln 385 390 395 gac cat ttc tct gat gtc ttc gcc cgc gcc tgg ttc aag ctg acg cat 1549 Asp His Phe Ser Asp Val Phe Ala Arg Ala Trp Phe Lys Leu Thr His 400 405 410 cgc gac atg ggg ccg aag tcc cgt tac gtc ggc ccg gat gtt ccg gct 1597 Arg Asp Met Gly Pro Lys Ser Arg Tyr Val Gly Pro Asp Val Pro Ala 415 420 425 430 gaa gac ctg atc tgg cag gat ccg atc ccg gca ggc tcc acg agc tac 1645 Glu Asp Leu Ile Trp Gln Asp Pro Ile Pro Ala Gly Ser Thr Ser Tyr 435 440 445 gat gtc gct gcc gtc aag gct aag atc gct gcc tcc ggc ctt tct gtc 1693 Asp Val Ala Ala Val Lys Ala Lys Ile Ala Ala Ser Gly Leu Ser Val 450 455 460 gcc gat ctg gtt tca acc gca tgg gac agt gcc cgc acc ttc cgt ggt 1741 Ala Asp Leu Val Ser Thr Ala Trp Asp Ser Ala Arg Thr Phe Arg Gly 465 470 475 tcg gac aag cgc ggc ggc gcc aat ggc gcg cgt att cgt ctc gca ccg 1789 Ser Asp Lys Arg Gly Gly Ala Asn Gly Ala Arg Ile Arg Leu Ala Pro 480 485 490 cag aag gat tgg gaa ggc aat gag ccc gcc cgt ctt tcc cgc gtg ctt 1837 Gln Lys Asp Trp Glu Gly Asn Glu Pro Ala Arg Leu Ser Arg Val Leu 495 500 505 510 tcg gtt ctg gag ccg att gcc cgc gaa acc ggt gca agc atc gcc gat 1885 Ser Val Leu Glu Pro Ile Ala Arg Glu Thr Gly Ala Ser Ile Ala Asp 515 520 525 gtg atc gtt ctg gct ggc aat tac ggc gtg gag cag gcg gcg aaa gcg 1933 Val Ile Val Leu Ala Gly Asn Tyr Gly Val Glu Gln Ala Ala Lys Ala 530 535 540 gct ggt ttc gat atc gcc gtg ccc ttc gcg gcc ggt cgt ggt gac gct 1981 Ala Gly Phe Asp Ile Ala Val Pro Phe Ala Ala Gly Arg Gly Asp Ala 545 550 555 tcc gcc gag cag acg gat gcc gac agc ttt gcg ccg ctt gag ccg ctg 2029 Ser Ala Glu Gln Thr Asp Ala Asp Ser Phe Ala Pro Leu Glu Pro Leu 560 565 570 gcg gat ggt ttc cgc aac tgg gtg aag aag gac tat gtc gtc agc ccc 2077 Ala Asp Gly Phe Arg Asn Trp Val Lys Lys Asp Tyr Val Val Ser Pro 575 580 585 590 gaa gag ctg ctg ctc gat cgg gca cag ctt ctt ggc ctc acc gcg ccg 2125 Glu Glu Leu Leu Leu Asp Arg Ala Gln Leu Leu Gly Leu Thr Ala Pro 595 600 605 gaa ctc acc gtc ctc atc ggc ggc ctg cgc gtc atc ggc gcc aat tac 2173 Glu Leu Thr Val Leu Ile Gly Gly Leu Arg Val Ile Gly Ala Asn Tyr 610 615 620 ggc ggt gcg gcg cat ggc gtc ttc acc gat aag ccg ggg gcg ctt aca 2221 Gly Gly Ala Ala His Gly Val Phe Thr Asp Lys Pro Gly Ala Leu Thr 625 630 635 acg gac ttc ttc acg acg ttg acg gac atg gcc tat tcc tgg gtc ccg 2269 Thr Asp Phe Phe Thr Thr Leu Thr Asp Met Ala Tyr Ser Trp Val Pro 640 645 650 acc ggc aac aat ctc tat gag atc cgt gat cgc aag acc ggc gca gcc 2317 Thr Gly Asn Asn Leu Tyr Glu Ile Arg Asp Arg Lys Thr Gly Ala Ala 655 660 665 670 aga tat tcg gca acc cgc gtc gat ctc gtg atc ggc tcc aac tcc atc 2365 Arg Tyr Ser Ala Thr Arg Val Asp Leu Val Ile Gly Ser Asn Ser Ile 675 680 685 ctg cgc gct tat gcg gaa gtt tat gcg cag gac gac aac agg gaa aaa 2413 Leu Arg Ala Tyr Ala Glu Val Tyr Ala Gln Asp Asp Asn Arg Glu Lys 690 695 700 ttc gcc cgc gac ttc att gcc gcc tgg acg aag gtg atg aac gcc gac 2461 Phe Ala Arg Asp Phe Ile Ala Ala Trp Thr Lys Val Met Asn Ala Asp 705 710 715 cgt ttc gat ctg atc tgagcggaag cgattagccg aaaagacaac acctccccga 2516 Arg Phe Asp Leu Ile 720 gcgatcgggg aggtgttttt gtggcggctt cctctcgatg acggaggccc catattcatt 2576 caacggcggt cggaagacgg aacctgccgc tcgggtgacg acttttcagt tggtccagca 2636 ggcgtcttgc cactcttctc gttttcatgc gcatccgggc cagcgacaat cacgccacgg 2696 ccctgttctt cacgcttctt gtcggcgaaa tcgcccgctt cctttttctc gttcatcgtt 2756 ttctcccttc gcgttgtttc gtccttcatt caacgaatga cgaagaggtg ggttccagat 2816 agacaattcc gcagagggcc gaa 2839 3 723 PRT Agrobacterium tumefaciens 3 Met Asp Ala Thr Ser Lys Pro Ala Gly Lys Cys Pro Val Met His Gly 1 5 10 15 Gly Asn Thr Ala Ser Gly Lys Ser Val Thr Glu Trp Trp Pro Asn Ala 20 25 30 Leu Asn Leu Asp Ile Leu His Gln His Asp Thr Lys Thr Asn Pro Leu 35 40 45 Gly Thr Ser Phe Asn Tyr Arg Glu Ala Leu Lys Thr Leu Asp Val Glu 50 55 60 Ala Leu Lys Ala Asp Leu Arg Ala Leu Met Thr Asp Ser Gln Glu Trp 65 70 75 80 Trp Pro Ala Asp Trp Gly Ser Tyr Val Gly Met Met Ala Arg Val Thr 85 90 95 Trp His Ala Ala Gly Ser Tyr Arg Val Thr Asp Gly Arg Gly Gly Ala 100 105 110 Asn Thr Gly Asn Gln Arg Phe Ala Pro Leu Asn Ser Trp Pro Asp Asn 115 120 125 Val Asn Thr Asp Lys Gly Arg Arg Leu Leu Trp Pro Ile Lys Lys Lys 130 135 140 Tyr Gly Asn Lys Ile Ser Trp Ala Asp Leu Ile Ala Leu Ala Gly Thr 145 150 155 160 Ile Ala Tyr Asp Val Ala Gly Leu Lys Thr Phe Gly Phe Ala Phe Gly 165 170 175 Arg Glu Asp Ile Trp Ala Pro Glu Lys Asp Thr Tyr Trp Gly Asp Glu 180 185 190 Lys Glu Trp Leu Ala Pro Ser Asp Gly Arg Tyr Gly Asp Val Ser Lys 195 200 205 Pro Glu Thr Leu Glu Asn Pro Leu Ala Ala Val Gln Met Gly Leu Ile 210 215 220 Tyr Val Asn Pro Glu Gly Val Asn Gly Lys Ser Asp Pro Leu Ala Thr 225 230 235 240 Ala Ala Gln Met Arg Glu Thr Phe Ala Arg Met Gly Met Asp Asp Glu 245 250 255 Glu Thr Val Ala Leu Thr Ala Gly Gly His Thr Ile Gly Lys Ser His 260 265 270 Gly Asn Gly Ser Ala Ala Asn Leu Ser Pro Asp Pro Glu Ala Ala Gly 275 280 285 Pro Glu Tyr Gln Gly Leu Gly Trp Ile Asn Thr Lys Gly Arg Gly Ile 290 295 300 Gly Arg Asp Thr Val Val Ser Gly Ile Glu Gly Ala Trp Thr Ser Glu 305 310 315 320 Pro Thr Lys Trp Asp Asn Gly Phe Phe Asp Met Leu Phe Lys His Glu 325 330 335 Trp Thr Leu Thr His Ser Pro Ala Gly Ala Ser Gln Trp Ala Pro Ile 340 345 350 Thr Ile Ala Glu Glu Asp Lys Pro Val Asp Val Glu Asp Ala Ser Ile 355 360 365 Arg Thr Ile Pro Met Met Thr Asp Ala Asp Met Ala Leu Lys Val Asp 370 375 380 Pro Ile Tyr Arg Glu Ile Ser Leu Lys Phe Lys Asp Asp Gln Asp His 385 390 395 400 Phe Ser Asp Val Phe Ala Arg Ala Trp Phe Lys Leu Thr His Arg Asp 405 410 415 Met Gly Pro Lys Ser Arg Tyr Val Gly Pro Asp Val Pro Ala Glu Asp 420 425 430 Leu Ile Trp Gln Asp Pro Ile Pro Ala Gly Ser Thr Ser Tyr Asp Val 435 440 445 Ala Ala Val Lys Ala Lys Ile Ala Ala Ser Gly Leu Ser Val Ala Asp 450 455 460 Leu Val Ser Thr Ala Trp Asp Ser Ala Arg Thr Phe Arg Gly Ser Asp 465 470 475 480 Lys Arg Gly Gly Ala Asn Gly Ala Arg Ile Arg Leu Ala Pro Gln Lys 485 490 495 Asp Trp Glu Gly Asn Glu Pro Ala Arg Leu Ser Arg Val Leu Ser Val 500 505 510 Leu Glu Pro Ile Ala Arg Glu Thr Gly Ala Ser Ile Ala Asp Val Ile 515 520 525 Val Leu Ala Gly Asn Tyr Gly Val Glu Gln Ala Ala Lys Ala Ala Gly 530 535 540 Phe Asp Ile Ala Val Pro Phe Ala Ala Gly Arg Gly Asp Ala Ser Ala 545 550 555 560 Glu Gln Thr Asp Ala Asp Ser Phe Ala Pro Leu Glu Pro Leu Ala Asp 565 570 575 Gly Phe Arg Asn Trp Val Lys Lys Asp Tyr Val Val Ser Pro Glu Glu 580 585 590 Leu Leu Leu Asp Arg Ala Gln Leu Leu Gly Leu Thr Ala Pro Glu Leu 595 600 605 Thr Val Leu Ile Gly Gly Leu Arg Val Ile Gly Ala Asn Tyr Gly Gly 610 615 620 Ala Ala His Gly Val Phe Thr Asp Lys Pro Gly Ala Leu Thr Thr Asp 625 630 635 640 Phe Phe Thr Thr Leu Thr Asp Met Ala Tyr Ser Trp Val Pro Thr Gly 645 650 655 Asn Asn Leu Tyr Glu Ile Arg Asp Arg Lys Thr Gly Ala Ala Arg Tyr 660 665 670 Ser Ala Thr Arg Val Asp Leu Val Ile Gly Ser Asn Ser Ile Leu Arg 675 680 685 Ala Tyr Ala Glu Val Tyr Ala Gln Asp Asp Asn Arg Glu Lys Phe Ala 690 695 700 Arg Asp Phe Ile Ala Ala Trp Thr Lys Val Met Asn Ala Asp Arg Phe 705 710 715 720 Asp Leu Ile 4 28 DNA Agrobacterium tumefaciens 4 ggtgcgctag ccaaattcgt caccaagc 28 5 24 DNA Agrobacterium tumefaciens 5 caatcgctag cgttcggccc tctg 24 

1. A method for determining the ability of a compound to remove an ROS, comprising: a) providing a cell comprising an ROS-inducible promoter operably linked to a reporter gene, wherein the reporter gene is heterologous to the promoter to which it is operably linked; b) exposing the cell to a compound potentially able to remove the ROS; and c) measuring change in ROS-inducible expression of the reporter gene in the cell when exposed to the compound; wherein a reduction in the ROS-inducible expression of the reporter protein indicates that the compound is able to remove the ROS.
 2. A method for selecting a nucleic acid encoding a protein which is able to remove an ROS, from a plurality of nucleic acids, the method comprising: a) providing cells comprising an ROS-induced promoter operably linked to a reporter gene, wherein the reporter gene is heterologous to the promoter to which it is operably linked; b) introducing into the cells expression vectors comprising a plurality of nucleic acids encoding proteins which are potentially able to remove the ROS; c) measuring change in the ROS-inducible expression of the reporter gene in the cells when the nucleic acids are expressed; d) selecting for cells with reduced ROS-inducible expression of the reporter gene; and e) isolating the nucleic acid from the cells with reduced expression of the reporter gene; wherein the isolated nucleic acid encodes a protein able to remove the ROS.
 3. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising the step of elevating the intracellular level of the ROS before step (c).
 4. The method of claim 1 or 2 wherein the cell has been genetically modified to contain an elevated intracellular level of an ROS.
 5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the cell lacks at least one naturally occurring ROS-removing activity.
 6. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the step of exposing the cell to the compound comprises providing the compound externally to the cell.
 7. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the step of exposing the cell to the compound comprises expressing the compound from a nucleic acid inside the cell.
 8. The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the ROS-inducible promoter is from a gene selected from the group consisting of: AhpCF, Bcp, Dps, gor, KatA, KatB/AnkB, KatG, TrxB, human MAP kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP-1) genes; mammalian hic-5 genes, the bacterial isc operon; Escherichia coli zwf, fpr, fumC, micF, nfo, soi28, and sodA genes; Azotobacter vinelandii spr gene; Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae katX gene; rat and human haem oxygenase-1 (HO-1); yeast 2-deoxyglucose-6-phophate phosphatase (DOG2); catalase; human manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD); rat glutathione S-transferase (GST); human interstitial collagenase (MMP-1); human glutathione peroxidase (GPX2); fish metallothionein (MT); and rat multidrug resistance type 1 (mdr1).
 9. The method of claim 5 wherein the cell lacks a gene encoding an active enzyme selected from the group consisting of: catalase, superoxide dismutase, alkyl hydroperoxidase, and glutathione reductase.
 10. The method of claim 9 wherein the active enzyme is catalase.
 11. The method of any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the ROS is H₂O₂.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the H₂O₂-inducible promoter is from a gene selected from the group consisting of AhpCF, Bcp, Dps, gor, KatA, KatB/AnkB, KatG, TrxB, human MAP kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP-1) genes; mammalian hic-5 genes, and the isc operon.
 13. The method of any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the cell is a bacterial cell.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the reporter gene encodes a protein functional in bacteria.
 15. The method of claim 13 or 14, further comprising the step of inducing the H₂O₂-inducible promoter by exposing the cell to acidic culture conditions, before step (c).
 16. The method of any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein the bacterial cell is Agrobacterium tumefaciens.
 17. A diagnostic kit for determining the ability of a gene product to remove an ROS, the kit comprising: a) a cell comprising an ROS-inducible promoter operably linked to a reporter gene, wherein the reporter gene is heterologous to the promoter to which it is operably linked; b) means for introducing in the cell a nucleic acid encoding a gene product; and c) instruction for determining a reduction in expression of the reporter gene in the cell of (a) when the nucleic acid is expressed, thereby determining whether the gene product is able to remove the ROS.
 18. The diagnostic kit of claim 17 wherein the reporter gene encodes a reporter product, and wherein the kit further comprises means for measuring the reporter product.
 19. The kit of claim 17 or 18 further comprising means for elevating the intracellular level of the ROS in the cell.
 20. The kit of any one of claims 17 to 19 wherein the cell has been genetically modified to contain an elevated intracellular level of an ROS.
 21. The kit of any one of claims 17 to 20, wherein the cell lacks at least one naturally occurring ROS-removing activity.
 22. The kit of any one of claims 17 to 21, wherein the ROS-inducible promoter is from a gene selected from the group consisting of: AhpCF, Bcp, Dps, gor, KatA, KatB/AnkB, KatG, TrxB, human MAP kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP-1) genes; mammalian hic-5 genes, the bacterial isc operon; Escherichia coli zwf, fpr, fumC, micF, nfo, soi28 and sodA genes; Azotobacter vinelandii spr gene; Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae katX gene; rat and human haem oxygenase-1 (HO-1); yeast 2-deoxyglucose-6-phophate phosphatase (DOG2); catalase; human manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD); rat glutathione S-transferase (GST); human interstitial collagenase (MMP-1); human glutathione peroxidase (GPX2); fish metallothionein (MT); and rat multidrug resistance type 1 (mdr1).
 23. The kit of claim 21 wherein the cell lacks a gene encoding an active enzyme selected from the group consisting of: catalase, superoxide dismutase, alkyl hydroperoxidase, and glutathione reductase.
 24. The method of claim 21 wherein the active enzyme is catalase.
 25. The kit of any one of claims 17 to 24, wherein the ROS is H₂O₂.
 26. The kit of claim 25, wherein the H₂O₂-inducible promoter is from a gene selected from the group consisting of AhpCF, Bcp, Dps, gor, KatA, KatB/AnkB, KatG, TrxB, human MAP kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP-1) genes; mammalian hic-5 genes, and the isc operon.
 27. The kit of any one of claims 17 to 26, wherein the cell is a bacterial cell.
 28. The kit of claim 27, wherein the reporter gene encodes a protein functional in bacteria.
 29. The kit of claim 27 or 28, wherein the bacterial cell is Agrobacterium tumefaciens.
 30. The method or kit of any one of claims 1 to 29 wherein the ROS-inducible promoter is from the KatA gene of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. 